My child’s school have changed the name of Mother’s Day to special persons day, what do you think?

[Rainbow03]

Have we gone mad or is this appropriate?

I don't have a mother because she died four years ago. I'm 54 and I can't open Facebook on Mothers Day because I find it hard.

DS's 14yo friend's mum died a couple of years ago. I can only imagine how hard she finds it.

I expect teachers in particular see how a lot of children are excluded on these days and want to help them

Yes the last Father’s Day was special person day also.

I think a school that doesn't recognise Mothers as females, is going to struggle teaching science and literacy.

Not everything is about your fucking trans obsessions. My kids’ school do this for Father’s Day because my kids’ dad is dead and the school isn’t full of absolute arseholes who think them being precious about specific words is more important than whether kids without one of their parents are upset at school.

Maybe schools should therefore stay clear of any special days or events - as surely someone will be offended by them. In someways I think this might be a good thing - so unless it relates to the subject curriculum ie world book day then no special days.

When I was on the PTA and we did a mothers day event, we changed it to special persons day after one the kids in my sons class lost his mum suddenly 6 weeks before mothers day. It was to stop kids, like him, without a Mum feeling left out, awkward and having it rubbed in that they didn't have a Mum. It wasn't about removing "mum", but rather making all the kids feel included.

They did something similar years ago when my then 6yr old brother was in primary school because our mum had killed herself in the months before and to be kind to him and possibly some others who didn't have a mum around they encouraged the kids to make a card for their mum or any other special woman in their lives.

Sometimes there's a really good reason for the school to make this kind of change that they can't fully communicate to everyone.

Not everything is about your fucking trans obsessions.

Nailed it. Must be a tiring way to live.

Have I missed one of OP’s posts? I can’t see where they said the school is saying mothers aren’t female?

Mad. Personally I dont think the school should be making cards for it, that removes the issue of those who dont have mothers. They should be teaching children that it was traditionally the one day off a year that servants had off and could see their families. That could, if they wished, then lead on to making a card to celebrate someone who feels like family to you.

We should not reinvent history.

This !

I can't be upset about this at all. Not everyone has a mother. This isn't about 'pregnant people'. It's about the fact that not everyone has a mother in their life.

It is exactly about "pregnant people" and not being mindful of orphans.

‘Mother’s day’ is an Americanism. We should call it ‘Mothering Sunday’ as that is its traditional British name, then schools could celebrate anyone carrying out a mothering role.

I lost my Dad at a young age, and my best friend at school has lost her mum. Our school did a great job at handling this. We’d talk about important people to us around Mothers/Father’s Day so parents, grandparents, Uncles, Aunts etc would all come up. Most would then go on to make a card for their mum/dad but those of us without that figure in our lives could do something for someone else, but it was part of the whole process, not some sort of consolation add on. That was over 30 years ago so it’s nothing new.

What's wrong with having a special person's day? You don't have to trash the whole idea just because you don't like it having a different name.

The school know the demographic of their pupils better than others.

Honestly things like this doesn't bother me it affects my life not one iota.

www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/holydays/motheringsunday_1.shtml

Why remove what was a nice historical annual occasion for families? It's a nice tradition.

Not sure what it wrong with people, some kids have lost their mums, maybe some kids within the school.

It’s not like the actual day has been officially renamed.

Is Father's Day "another special Persons day if you have one"
my kids do not have a dad and we're not bothered by Father's Day. The teachers really tried to be considerate though to my chikdrens bemusement

Yes every year people get so het up about an act of kindness.

Or they have children who for whatever reason don’t have a mother (death or they are in care).

Children will still be confronted with both mother's day and father's Day on TV and in the shops. They will have to deal with it as adults for the rest of their lives. I don't think renaming it or ignoring it is the way to go.

Much better to support children to find a way to manage it. I've had children make cards for significant others, choose to opt out entirely and do something nice when the rest of the class were card-making and, memorably, one boy who still wanted to make a card for his mum and leave it by her grave.

Talking to children, acknowledging that it might be hard for them and giving them choices in how to manage it is empowering. Hopefully in a way that will prepare them to cope with these 'celebrations' in adulthood.

The lack of empathy shown by some posters is really disgraceful

"Mothers Day" is celebrated in America and is on May 14th.

The day on 19th March is "Mothering Sunday" but all the card makers and manufacturers of tat like mugs saying "world's best mum" want to use the same templates for both, as that saves them money, so it's insanely difficult to buy a "Mothering Sunday" card now (I buy a blank-inside-for-your-own-message one).

Everyone has a mother, and a vast number of people have a crap, absent, controlling or unpleasant one, or a lovely and much-missed one who has died, or one with whom they had a tense and unresolved unhappy relationship with but who is now dead, or one who has lost their marbles and doesn't recognise them any more.

For me, the day is primarily a day to reflect on the extent to which we all sometimes need/have needed better or different "mothering" than we have, and those of us who are mothers often feel both totally inadequate and totally unappreciated despite those being in direct opposition to one another. It's a day when there's often a lot of subtle misogyny in the air about the extent to which a woman is expected to prioritise motherhood over every other aspect of human endeavour. It's not a great day. But I have no objection to being given chocolate/flowers/a big bottle of gin, if anyone feels moved to give me such items. I don't want the mug though, thanks.