This year we are back to the UK when Mothering Sunday was celebrated in in March being the fourth Sunday of Lent. Shops on the high street still adorned mothers’ day promotions as that was the week when Boris Johnson announced the lockdown due to CoVid-19. Even only 8 weeks on (I’ve honestly lost count), it frankly felt quite bizarre almost like a taste of a time capsule.
I never learnt that Mothers’ Day was different in the UK until I moved here – one of those things you would only experience by living it. Because it would always precede the Mother’s Day I was used to celebrating on the second Sunday of May, every year I would buy cards in advance so that I could post them back home to my mum in Hong Kong.
Everyone has a mother but not every mother is around for them. Although I am unable to celebrate with my mum in person this year, I am grateful to be able to call her and send her meal through Deliveroo which she was very amused about.
In the latest are package she sent me were lots of dried Chinese fruit that she also wrote with detailed instructions on how to prepare them for ‘tea’, but would send my children heavily processed kiddie snacks. Through her, I observe what traditional food ideas are but when it comes to grandmothering, she simply wants the children to enjoy the food, whether or not it is healthy.
When they say, I’ve found myself to speak like my mother! There’s every truth to it. I caught myself saying things to my children just like my mum, and sometimes things that I do not actually agree with. Arrghh. This is usually for Audrey to finish off every single morsel of food on the plate. When it comes to feeding, a good appetite is every mum’s dream.
But on Mothers’ Day, I’m also aware that not every women who wants to become a mother is able to be. We were lucky to have conceived Audrey rather easily, but Ingrid came with much yearning and not without tears. I’ve come to realise that this hallmark holiday could be quite off-putting to those who have a severed relationship with their mothers, for those who no longer have theirs/ their children around and those who wish to be one.
It’s great to have a day dedicated to mothers, but I wish there’s a little more sensitivity around the marketing and promotion of mothers’ day deals at the shops and every other retail channel…