Mothers Day 2026 Disappointment Thread

[Tinklapo]

Starting a thread for those of us who feel disappointed, unappreciated and let down this Mothers Day.

I’ll start. DH went away to stay with his mum this weekend (2 hours away, nice thought as she’s elderly and unsure how many more Mother’s Days there will be). He said he would be home at 12 so I (stupidly) assumed we would do something as a family but this morning he has told me that he won’t be home until this evening as he’s going to a football match local to his mums.

He’s left me no card, no gift and now I need to spend today doing what I do every day and look after the kids, do all the cooking etc. Feeling totally unappreciated.

We had a conversation last week about Mother’s Day and I said one thing I would love is some time to myself to recharge my batteries. I’ll be making sure I book myself for a long spa weekend next Mother’s Day!

My DH also buggered off to his parents 3h away as they needed help with some work on the house. Had to be this weekend! (& sod all the work that needs doing in OUR house).

He did leave a card, and promised to just eat a macdonalds breaki to me, that was all forgotten. When reminded on FaceTime with the kids, he laughed and said oh shit yeah! Oops!

Will be matching his energy for Father’s Day- He says that’s fine as Father’s Day he would want to be with his kids. Yeah, and do all the cooking cleaning and bathing etc too, without a minutes peace.

Happy Mother’s Day. Fitting really as so much of motherhood is coming last in the ranking, and smiling through disappointment.

You’re being unfair.

OH got a card for the kids to write and a box of chocs.
Youngest is 11 and he presented it to me this morning and said Happy Mothers Day.
Eldest is 18, does have his own money.He got out of bed half an hour before we were due to go out for lunch with the grandmas also..never mentioned MDs.Left him at home and went for lunch.
Feeling unappreciated quite honestly and going to simply stop bothering.
OH can get a shared card and a cheapo box of chocs for FD.

🎶 Where the hell is my husband🎶
I tell you where he is, he is at home with the teens while I am on a lovely mini break. After a shit Mother’s Day last year I made a mental note next year I was going to go away for a me time break. I highly recommend this strategy and have been better treated by the teens as a result of going away. Nice cards and token small gifts before I left.
I genuinely think because mothers do soooooo much for everyone we then hype up the day and get pissed of when it doesn’t go to plan. So my new theory is if I am not near them they can’t annoy me🤣

All these people who treat their husbands like ‘a king’ on Father’s Day - I hope you are going to match what you got this year.

My labrador sent me a lovely self portrait as a card (with a little help from my son).

Nothing from my kids either. They are 6 and 8 so reliant on DH taking them to the supermarket to pick some flowers etc….and he’s an arsehole who doesn’t care about me so he hasn’t bothered to do this. Not the first time, pretty standard for him. His crappy behaviour is a whole other thread.
One of my kids is autistic has no concept of it being Mother’s Day. My 8 year old does though, and could have made me a card but hasn’t. Thanks guys.

What a fab idea! 👌

@Tinklapo Id say the fact you are doing everything the other 364 days of the year is more of a problem than him being a selfish prick on mother's day.

Fuck waiting to next year, if book a spa break, weekend away fof next weekend. And then casually stop off for a long lunch on the way home, back ten minutes after bed time!!

@TheMouseholeCat if you smile through disappointment they think you're not disappointed.
This is his fault for being useless but some women do not help themselves by communicating.....

😃😃He could still put a pawmark on the card !

I'm booking a spa on his birthday now lol

I have two under two, DH doesn’t put in any effort anymore, I think he thinks there is no reason to as I can’t just leave him with two young children. I am always thinking of him and doing nice things.

Today I was sent to soft play alone which was dead since all the other mums got a day off. He did get me a card and I made him get me flowers when we were at the shop the other day, but they cost half the amount as the flowers he got his mum. He then made everyone lunch but me. And we went out for food which I arranged and he acted like it was a chore to take a nice photo of me with my children and purposely got ones where no one was looking, people were cut off, etc. When I asked him to try again he said “sorry children, we have to do more”.

Zero organised by husband, at midday I went for a short drive without letting him know. This panicked him and he brought youngest to the shop to get a card and chocolates. He is now watching football.

I contemplated going off by myself for the day but adult DC was due to visit. He eventually did, brought chocolate and now they are both watching football.

I'm thinking of having a mini break at Easter by myself as that will be another disappointment. I'd have been happy to have been asked if I wanted to do something.

My nearly 17 year old son has been vile to me and last night said he doesnt believe in Mothers day. Ive not been wished happy mothers day, he said he doesnt care. I do everything for him, hes an only child. My heart feels broken and I feel that I have completely failed at being a mother.

Don’t wait until next year. Organise it now. Weekend with a friend? Night in a hotel by yourself (I did this when my kids were young and it was bliss).

@SwedishSayna thanks, he knows I’m not happy. I meant more in motherhood, which does require some smiling through gritted teeth. Just having a rough time atm so this has stung more than it may have otherwise.

My dh was so hungover he actually cried because his headache was so bad and got me nothing . My 5 year old made me home made cards so that’s something .

Seems reasonable for your DH to visit his mum .
Seems unreasonable your DH would change his plans and not come home at 12 in order to go to a local football match on mothers day.
Could you have said, Thats a shame you aren't coming home at 12 as you said you were, it would have been nice to do something with the kids/as a family for mothers day?

Op, book yourself a hotel for Father's Day. He can have the day with the kids.

Ridiculous
Its just another day?
We are Mums 365 days a year
I explicitly told my adult kids to not waste their hard earned cash on overpriced crap.
They tell me they love me regularly.

I was thinking this too. If children have thoughtful, considerate fathers, it’s more likely they’ll be thoughtful, considerate adults.
I’ve been very lucky on that front. My adult kids are kind because their father is.

I had a really crap relationship with my mother, as did my siblings. Every year she would make a big fuss and demand presents and cards for Mother’s Day. We would get them because we were terrified of her temper and what she would say or do to us (we were all smacked, shaken and thrown across rooms at various times). Mother’s Day just became a battle ground like everything else in our lives.
when we all left home - within 3 years starting with my eldest sister, then brother then other sister and finally me - we decided to go NC with her and just see our father separately. The first Mother’s Day after we escaped we decided to get together at our elder sisters house and have a fuck Mother’s Day celebration. We ate and drank things she wouldn’t have approved of and generally enjoyed having a day where we didn’t have to be scared. We are all mothers (except for my brother who is a father 😂) and none of our children have grown up doing anything for Mother’s Day because we were determined that we would not be like our mother. We live further away from each other now and with busy lives and teenagers/young kids we haven’t managed to have a fuck Mother’s Day celebration for a while, but planning on doing one next year when the youngest of our collective kids reaches 18 - the age I was when I left - and so old enough to appreciate it.
seeing some posts on here where children and husbands are deemed to not have gone to enough effort for a made up day does make me wonder if any of those kids are feeling the way we used to. And no, mine have never done anything for me and I would have not expected them to.

Happy Mother's Day to you all. It's not until May for me. Tell your kids you're having do over. May 10th they better come up with something good.