Last year I wrote a post about 5 reasons Mother’s Day is a bad idea.
This year, one more baby and a lot less sleep later, I’ve got 5 more reasons Mother’s Day is a bad idea.
What with desperate dads, over excited kids and the realisation that the day probably isn’t going to be quite what you imagined as you stroked your bump I do think it’s got the potential to be a recipe for disaster.
More reasons Mother’s Day is a bad idea
1. You’re more disappointed than usual when the simplest things don’t happen. Like your first cup of tea being cold. Again. Is it too much to ask to be able to wake up to – and actually drink – a hot cup of tea just once a year? Apparently so. My hopes are now on my birthday – which is in 5 months time.
2. Once the kids reach school age the chance of a lie in goes out of the window with the hot tea thanks to the Dreaded Clubs. For us it’s swimming at 8.30am on a Sunday morning, requiring one of us to take BB and the other to stay at home with Little B and Littlest B. Oh joy.
3. What bright spark decided to coincide Mother’s Day with the day the clocks go forward? Not only do the kids end up over tired owing to the making of cards, keeping of secrets and general anticipation, the chances are the tiredness will be exacerbated by the changing of the clocks. That lost hour has a lot to answer for.
4. Mother’s Day has turned us into That Family. A year ago Misery Guts and I exchanged meaningful glances when we witnessed a mum meltdown of epic proportions on Mothering Sunday. This year the boot was on the other foot, except it was Misery Guts who had a dad meltdown instead. I’ll spare you the gory details, but it involved a two-year-old who does the total opposite of what you ask him.
5. You end up doing double the housework. If your other half is anything like mine, when they say ‘don’t worry, I’ll do everything today’ what they actually mean is they’ll look after the kids. Nothing else will get done, which means you’ll have double the housework to do the next day. Just what you wanted for Mother’s Day.
If I sound ungrateful I apologise – I haven’t slept through the night since Littlest B arrived on Valentine’s Day and I’m now functioning on wine and (cold) tea.
What did you do this Mother’s Day? Was it all you hoped it would be, or are you glad it’s now business as usual?
Linking up with…
Ha! Mother’s Day was nothing special over here – my husband was away working so I spent the day solo parenting my almost two-year-old. We went to the park, read loads of Mog books and spent lots of time whining (mostly her). #MarvMondays
Oh dear! It’s not just you our Mother’s Day didn’t go to plan either! I had wunderful ideas of spending the day at the seaside, instead we spent 6 hours traveling to and from the seaside, I queued for 45 minutes for fish and chips and Rory cried because he didn’t like the sea! #MarvMondays
Oh lovely this made me giggle – so true!! Whilst I had a lovely day with my bunch we couldn’t go far as we had swimming lessons slap bang in the middle of the day! Losing that house also left me feeling exhausted!! #marvmondays
A bit like Valentines Day; its far more important to feel the love all year round. i agree with you that when expectations and reality don’t aline that usually leaves us feeling pretty rubbish. Hope your day was better than you anticipated #postsfromtheheart
It’s a load of crap!! Again it’s over commercialised and usually unimaginative, and yep it never lives up to what we hope! Thanks for joining us for #marvmondays x
Sounds familiar – my gift this year was a scratch card from the corner shop lol, and I didn’t even win! #MarvMondays
YES!!! Let’s scrap it and come up with our own idea for a much better more restful day!!#postsfromtheheart
I’m not a fan of Mother’s Day (that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate mums) I just don’t get it. As you point out, despite all good intentions you NEVER get to be entirely ‘off’ even for a day. If I took myself off somewhere I’d just end up with massive mum guilt. Sunday is a lame day anyway so to expect it to suddenly become amazing is a bit much. Maybe Mother’s Day on a Saturday could work?
My daughter was so giddy for Mother’s Day I had to remind her repeatedly it wasn’t like a birthday so she wouldn’t be disappointed. My toddler woke at 3am and stayed awake until 11am. It was fraught.
I just like weekends. #postsfromtheheart
I totally agree with you on all these points and don’t get me started in daylight bastard savings! I’m anti all the Mother’s Day gift guides too. I hate all the pressure to buy ‘stuff’. I got lots of home made things this year and they mean more to me than anything else I could have received. Apart from wine – wine will always be gratefully received! #PostsFromtheHeart
There is always ALWAYS an epic fail on Mothers Day here. One year it was a hungover dad, one year it was my weird inlaws, another it was permanent marker on the couch, yet another was bedrest with the twins.
I am NOT a fan.
Aw bless! Sending sleep if I could. Mine was simple. House was a mess but I chilled in bed and had breakfast then we all spent time together. No pressure! Maybe next year that cuppa!! X #marvmondays
Well I certainly have to agree with you on the clocks going forward!! What was that all about?! As for Mother’s Day I have to say after 13 years I have learnt to lower my expectations. We generally have my parents to lunch and I end up cooking. This year when my other half asked me what i would like for mother’s day I said I would seriously just like to rest for the whole day. Having lost an hour’s sleep I wasn’t in the best of moods when i got up but I had breakfast and lunch cooked for me and all I had to do was clean the kitchen and do the washing and ironing – which compared to a usual sunday wasn’t too bad! #postsfromtheheart
Hmmm let’s think. For mother’s day I got a card and a sickness bug from my toddler. So yeah it was wonderful and everything I had hoped for. I got to lay in bed, when I wasn’t hugging the toilet, I even got a nap in. Then I got treated to all the housework when I was feeling better. Yey. #twinklytuesday
I got a few little presents and a cup of tea in bed but other than that, it was business as usual for us! #twinklytuesday
It never does live up to the hype or look like it does in commercials. Great post!
I’m with you on this. Last year when my daughter was 1 I got nothing and I was upset. This year I had no expectations at all and woke up happy. As it turned out I got a card and some flowers but they were a bonus. The expectation and the unspoken competition (or is it in my head?!) irritate me! That and my mum is no longer with us so I prefer not having that reminder for weeks leading up to a single Sunday. Wishing you some sleep soon xx #marvmondays
I think Mother’s day is just like any other day, only on this day you get a bunch of flowers and breakfast in bed. My kids still fought like cat & dog for the majority of it. Haha!
I think every single one of us feels slightly disappointed by the theory of mothers day. AND DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THE SODDING LOST HOUR!! Anyway, great post your points are very true. I had double the housework to do to. Although I did get a hot cup of tea xx #twinklytuesday
Im not a fan of mothers day for the reasons i give in my post, but even before then I felt mothers day was something designed to set you up for disapointment. #marvmondays
I felt like this, this Mother’s Day. My little one was in such a bad mood when he woke up that I got all grumpy too 🙁 #MArvMondays
Haha! This is amazing and so true! Mothers Day landing on the day of the clock change is so unfair and not needed! 🙂 #MarvMondays
Oh I did have a lovely mothers day- The whole weekend was great! That said, I don’t know why we had to lose that hour! I’m with you on the lacking sleep thing! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
I had high hopes for Mothers Day and i did get a extra hot cup of tea ( spilled over me ) and rubbery eggs on toast .
I was also given 2 very nice presents but this was all at 5.45 am and then by 6 am by husband had fallen back asleep next to me and the kids were screaming so i had to get up. I had a whole 15 mins of Mothers Day. #postsfromtheheart