The shops are full of cards, chocolates, flowers and gifts ready for Mothering Sunday this Sunday. This can be a day of joy for mothers and children alike to spend time together and share happy times.
For others though this is a more difficult day than most. This includes for example women who are childless; whose child has died; parents who are separated geographically from their child; or who are estranged from their adult children or grandchildren.
Provision for Mother's Day...
Not all mothers live with their children. The child(ren) may live with their father or other family members. If this is under a Court Order such as a Child Arrangements Order or perhaps a Special Guardianship Order then this may include a provision for Mother’s Day. It is common to provide that contact takes place on Mother’s Day but each case will depend on its own facts.
Equally, if a child usually lives with his or her mother and has contact with his father on Sundays then there may be a provision that this does not include Mother’s Day. The first thing to do would be to check the terms of any Order.
If you are on reasonable terms with the other party, you may be able to ask them to vary the arrangements so that you can spend Mother’s Day with your child.
Foster care...
If your child is in foster care, or with family members and you have supervised contact, then it is unlikely special arrangements will be in place for Mother’s Day. Contact will take place as has previously been agreed. I do not know of any Contact Centres locally that open on a Sunday and Local Authority staff will not work on Sundays to supervise contact.
Foster carers will often encourage children to buy or make cards for Mother’s Day.
It is important to remember that not everyone is having the ‘perfect family day’ that the card shops try to promote or that may be portrayed on the likes of Facebook and Instagram. Try to remember that Mothering Sunday is just one day.
