Celebrating my Mum for Mother’s Day

AD - This post contains press samples

This year, Mother’s Day falls on Sunday 14 March – and whilst this day has always been the perfect opportunity to spoil my wonderful Mum, this year is also the first year I’ll be celebrating it as a Mum myself.

Whilst I might have imagined my first Mother’s Day would be spent with the three generations of women in my family (I’m lucky that I still have my lovely Grandma, but sadly she lives several hours away!) – in fact just like every other celebration over the last year, it’s likely to be a very quiet one.  And even if Alba hasn’t been saving up her pocket money, I’m feeling very lucky that I’ve already been very spoilt this year by Moonpig – who kindly sent me some beautiful blooms, tea and bubbles, and lots of lovely gifts for a proper pampering session!  I always order my cards from Moonpig but I was so surprised to see how many lovely gifts for Mother’s Day they have on the website too, especially from great brands like This Works – what mama wouldn’t want to find a set of their pillow sprays and calming sprays all wrapped up on Mother’s Day?

moonpig flowers

I can honestly say that I don’t know how I would have got through the last year without my family and friends, and particularly my Mum.  Just this week I had a really tough day where I’d had so little sleep the night before that Alba’s constant crying (coupled with a messy house and a stinking cold myself) was making me feel completely overwhelmed.  We’re lucky that we are allowed to ‘bubble’ with my parents, and though we haven’t used it as much as we could, this week was a prime example of a time when I just needed my Mum to come and offer her support.  Within 45 minutes of my somewhat tearful phonecall, my Mum was rolling up her sleeves in the kitchen preparing to do the washing up and make me some lunch.  She really is a superhero.

I really empathise with people who haven’t seen their Mum for months, or even up to a year now – so many of us have missed out on so much in the last 12 months.  I hope for all of our sakes that this is the last Mother’s Day we’ll spend apart from them, and that what will follow in the months afterwards is lots of opportunities for hugs and cups of tea (or glasses of wine!) and long catch-ups.  I think those hugs really will feel so much more precious now we’ve gone so long without them.

sanctuary spa mother's day gifts

One thing I’ve found to be true in my parenting experience is that it truly does ‘take a village to raise a child’, and through lockdown I’ve found some days really challenging being on my own (when Liam has been working away or working long hours).  When Alba was a newborn there were periods when restrictions were not as tight as they have been, and the days when my Mum was able to swoop in, help me tidy the house, make me lunch and assist in settling Alba were absolutely invaluable.  My Mum and I have always been close, but I think that having a daughter myself has brought us closer, and she’s already such a wonderful ‘Granny’ to Alba.  I don’t think we ever could have imagined that she wouldn’t have been able to see me in hospital, to hold her for the first few weeks or to spend Alba’s first Christmas with her.

moonpig mothers day giftssanctuary spa mothers day

I think there’s no better way to celebrate your Mum than with some decadent bath and body bits – this Sanctuary Spa hamper definitely ticks those boxes and is the perfect opportunity to lock that bathroom door and relax into a long and languid bath full of bubbles.  I plan to have a long evening of self-care on Mother’s Day and will absolutely be slathering myself with that luxuriously rich body butter and soothing my tired feet with their heel balm.

moonpig tea and bubbles hamper

I also can’t imagine a better hamper of goodies than one that includes fizz, tea, chocolate, biscuits, jam and cake! That’s absolutely ticked off all of the best things in life in my eyes.  If you’re wondering what to get your Mum this year (or indeed your Auntie, Granny, Step-Mum, or whomever…) then this Tea and Bubbles Hamper can’t fail to go down well! What a perfect evening in that would be – starting with a cup of Rosehip and Hibiscus tea and then cracking open the fizz – yes please.

moonpig this works gifts

I think anything from This Works is also a winning gift – I can’t wait to try their Evening Detox Gift Set.  Any present that promotes relaxation is such a good idea as it’s been an incredibly tough year for Mums everywhere; given the challenges of home-schooling, having to juggle so many responsibilities at once and doing so without the support of extended family.  I also think candles are such a fabulous gift – this Aery ‘Big Love’ candle would look wonderful on any mantelpiece, and how gorgeous does coconut and lychee sound?

moonpig flower delivery

How will you be spoiling the Mother figure in your life this year?

AD - This post contains press samples