Mother’s Day means different things to different people. Our family doesn’t do St Valentine’s Day as a rule but Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are big hitters for us. Also Chinese New Year but then who doesn’t love a Chinese fakeaway meal and watching the family struggle with chopsticks? We don’t go OTT but always have some fun. At the end of the day MD is just one day as we try to teach the boys to be kind and considerate all year round, to everyone. That said, I’m not above being treated like a queen for a day.
Anyhow, this piece is all about the different types of Mother’s Day traditions we’ve enjoyed over the years.
Yes I Have a Mother’s Day Lie In
I am a natural early riser. 4am natural. Ok, that’s not natural or normal at all but that’s just me. I get up, come down, work if it’s a work day, read or browse or watch something if it isn’t. That works well for me until about 8am when sometimes I’d just like to crawl back into bed for a bit. Not so much to sleep but to chill and lie down, so that’s what I do on Mother’s Day.
I get up and enjoy a few quality hours all to myself while I can then go back up for a lie in. Last year I binge-watched Grey’s Anatomy for a few hours, the year before I enjoyed a book in peace. This year? Who knows!?
It Depends on the Weather
We like to go out on Mother’s Day but it depends on the weather. At the end of March it could be snowy or a heatwave, so we try not to plan too far in advance. If we do go out for the day it’s a cheap and cheerful experience. We either opt for a fab local walk (about 4 miles or so) or head up to Dalby Forest for a Forestry Commission walk. You pay by car and all of that money goes to preserving the walkways and maintaining the forest so we don’t mind the small contribution at all!
If it’s raining we go for a PJ day, board games (we’re D&D players or go for a board game such as Pandemic), movies and just generally all hanging around together. Roy and the boys take it in turns to bring me food and drinks. It works well for me.
Food, Glorious Food
I’m a big fan of food. I’ve never met a menu I don’t like and yet thanks to diabetes and IBS I have to be super careful about what I eat. This means no slabs of festive cake or similar. Roy and the boys have been fantastic at making super healthy yet super tasty treats for me. I love that they make the extra effort without thinking about it (all year, not just on Mother’s Day). Taylor has decided that when we move in April he is going to grow me lots of tomatoes and veggies for my special salads. I can have the odd sweet treat though, and they usually find me something!
Mother’s Day Gifts and Things
We do not go mad on gifts and treats at Mother’s Day. I usually get something homemade from the boys, Taylor’s made at school and Kieran’s something Star-Trek related that he’s drawn for me (we are such geeks). The boys do like to buy me something though so Roy usually takes them to Card Factory in town or similar so that they can spend a just a few pounds on a few fab and cute gifts and treats for me. They are always so proud of themselves when they watch me make a big deal of opening them up. I love it!
If Mother’s Day is a thing in your house, what do you do? Do you splash out on big gifts, do you enjoy breakfast made/burnt by your eager children or is it an opportunity to do something quirky? I’d love to hear!
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