Workingmums’ Guide to Getting the Most out of Mother’s Day

1. OK, perhaps Mother’s Day is just there to sell a few more cards, but you might as well milk it for all you can if it allows you a lie-in. Unfortunately, schools/nurseries tend to build it up so much that children become very excited about it and think it is somewhat akin to a birthday. This means they wake up even earlier than normal, desperate to give you cards and tell you what they have planned. To get round this question you plan ahead and create a sign on your bedroom door, a card deposit system and explain that a big part of Mother’s Day is about sleep.

2. Breakfast in bed may not be as relaxing as it sounds since either it is made by small people who overdo the milk/sugar/burn the toast or decide that what you really really want is something they like, eg, sugar-coated chocolate ricicles. There is also the high possibility of spillage. Try to suggest a menu beforehand and buy in something they can just bring up easily on a plate, eg, croissants.

3. Even if you have been woken at the crack of dawn and there are cornflakes in every crevice of the bed, you can still push for the morning in bed at the very least and get the kids to do the housework – though this is likely to mean you spend the entire afternoon redoing it. Remember, let them do stuff like sweeping. Do not let them near the Mr Sheen or any form of window cleaner. You will live to regret it as they go polish and shine crazy.

4. Cooking the lunch: remember again that you need to choose the menu or you will end up with something only they like or something that is potentially infected with salmonella. Encourage them towards the idea of a takeaway [they can serve it like waiters] if they are not entirely confident about cooking, particularly if they are prone to eating half the ingredients while they do said cooking.

5. Stretch out Mother’s Day. A day is so paltry. They should, of course, devote their entire lives to endlessly appreciating your talents and mothering skills [even if you know that they are more about survival skills than anything approaching award-winning parental abilities]. See if you can last out the day until Monday and get your partner, if you have one or else a handy childless friend or relative, to do the school run for you. After all, Sunday is supposed to be a day of rest anyway so having Mother’s Day on a Sunday defeats the whole purpose. It should ideally be on a working day to achieve full benefits.