Each year for its national Mother’s Day, Norway is abuzz with advertisements for the perfect Mother’s Day gifts and services. While overly commercial these days, celebrating Mother’s Day in Norway has become a huge occasion, and children—young and grown—are sure to honor their mothers with gifts and other expressions of gratitude.

In this article, you’ll learn how Mother’s Day is celebrated in Norway as well as how this holiday got started here.

Are you ready? Let’s go!

1. What is Mother’s Day in Norway?

Like Mother’s Day in the rest of the world, this holiday in Norway is a special day dedicated to honoring one’s mother and showing her appreciation. Because mothers do so much for their children and make so many personal sacrifices, people make sure to express their deepest gratitude and respect on this day. This often takes the form of gift-giving or general pampering!

Young children aren’t the only ones to participate in Mother’s Day. Adult children may visit their mothers, give them a call, or send them a letter of gratitude. A gift of chocolate (sjokolade) or a gift certificate (gavekort) are always welcome!

Mother’s Day is also the perfect opportunity for husbands to spoil their wives, and for other men to show the women in their lives how much they mean to them.

2. Mother’s Day Date

Norwegians celebrate and honor their mothers each year on the second Sunday (søndag) of February. For your convenience, here’s a list of this holiday’s date for the next ten years.

• 2020: February 9
• 2021: February 14
• 2022: February 13
• 2023: February 12
• 2024: February 11
• 2025: February 9
• 2026: February 8
• 2027: February 14
• 2028: February 13
• 2029: February 11

3. Norwegian Mother’s Day Traditions

Unfortunately, no special traditions are related to the celebration of Mother’s Day, but it is common to mark it.

Mother’s Day, like Valentine’s Day, has become a very commercial holiday. Several stores promote the day with gifts, cakes, and flowers for Mother’s Day, and it’s clear that the holiday has become ingrained in Norwegian society. Several weeks before the day itself, commercial posters are posted in the stores, and several TV and radio stations advertise gift-giving for Mother’s Day.

Even though it is “commercialized,” people still appreciate this day. The most common way to celebrate is to treat moms and give them a little extra attention, often in the form of gifts and flowers. In elementary schools, teachers help children in Norway celebrate Mother’s Day by giving them an hour or two to make cards and gifts for their mothers.

In Norway, the most common thing is to wake up your mom and surprise her with breakfast in bed, or frokost på sengen. Norwegian mothers often receive a breakfast of tasty bread rolls and freshly brewed coffee, and the breakfast is sometimes accompanied by a gift and flowers.

4. Origins of Mother’s Day in Norway

In 1919, two women—Dorothea Schjoldager and Karen Platou—worked to get Mother’s Day celebrated on a Sunday in February. Why Mother’s Day is celebrated in February instead of in May, like it is in many other countries, is probably because Norway already has a lot of holidays in May.

The first Mother’s Day celebration was in Bergen on February 9, 1919. Back then, the day was celebrated in a Methodist Church. Historically, Mother’s Day was held by religious organizations, but in more recent years, the day has become a family day.

5. Essential Mother’s Day Vocabulary

Are you ready to study some of the Norwegian vocabulary words and phrases from this article? Here’s a list of the most important Mother’s Day vocabulary words!

• Søndag — “Sunday”
• Sønn — “Son”
• Datter — “Daughter”
• Mor — “Mother”
• Sjokolade — “Chocolate”
• Middag — “Dinner“
• Rose — “Rose”
• Elske — “Love”
• Gave — “Present”
• Gratulasjonskort — “Greeting card”
• Morsdag — “Mother’s Day”
• Feire — “Celebrate”
• Gavekort — “Gift certificate”
• Frokost på sengen — “Breakfast in bed”

To hear the pronunciation of each word or phrase, and to read them alongside relevant images, be sure to check out our Norwegian Mother’s Day vocabulary list!

Final Thoughts

We hope you enjoyed learning about Norwegian Mother’s Day with us! As you can see, this is a popular holiday in Norway nowadays, and the country celebrates mothers on a large scale.

What do Mother’s Day celebrations look like in your country? Let us know in the comments, and read how your fellow Norwegian learners celebrate!

If you’re interested in learning more about Norwegian holidays and culture, you may find the following pages useful:

• Norwegian Sami Culture: What is Sami National Day in Norway?
• How to Celebrate Norwegian Independence Day
• Summer Solstice Celebration: Midsummer Day in Norway
• What’s Your Favorite Norwegian Food?
• Top 5 Things You Need to Know About Norwegian Pop Culture

Whatever your reasons for developing an interest in Norwegian culture or the language, know that NorwegianClass101.com is the best place to broaden your knowledge and improve your language skills! With tons of lessons for beginners, intermediate learners, and more advanced students, there’s something for everyone.

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Lykkelig Morsdag! (“Happy Mother’s Day!” in Norwegian) 😀