Mother’s Day

Mother’s Day (Mothering Sunday) is celebrated in the UK this year on Sunday 14th March. For the majority of families it is a happy occasion to celebrate the matriarchs of your family, however it can also be a tricky time for some. In the modern world with the prevalence of social media, such celebrations and events are becoming more commercialised every year, making Mother’s Day hard to ignore.

Mother’s Day can present challenges for a number of people and that may include children in care. If a foster child has had a tricky relationship with their birth mother, they may not wish to acknowledge the day at all. Likewise, it can also be difficult if they do wish to celebrate their foster mother and are unsure how to do so appropriately. As a foster carer, if you need advice as to how to approach the day, it may be worth contacting your social worker or even fellow foster carers to discuss their experience of the day. 

The most important thing to do is to talk openly and honestly about the day ahead of time, not just with foster children but with your whole family, especially if you have other children in the household who may wish to mark the day. 

There is no ‘ordinary’ way to celebrate occasions like Mother’s Day and just like any other ‘special’ occasion, it can be a brilliant bonding experience to create new traditions with your fostering family. If you and your family don’t wish to celebrate traditionally, you could instead celebrate other caregivers, or notable people, in your fostering family’s life.