Why We Give A Gift For Mother’s Day

What is Mothering Sunday?

Mothering Sunday in the UK and ireland is the equivalent of Mothers’ Day in other countries. Particularly the holiday celebrated in the USA - Mothering Sunday.

What happens on Mothering Sunday in the UK and Ireland?

Mothering Sunday is a time when children pay respect to their Mothers. Children often give their Mothers a gift and a card. Here at First4hampers, you will receive a free gift card along with any Mother’s Day gift purchase. We have a wide range of Mothers Day Gifts for you to choose from.

When is Mothering Sunday (Mother’s Day)?

Mothering Sunday (Mother’s Day) is always the fourth Sunday of Lent.

2010 Mothering Sunday in UK in 2010 - 14 March
(Mother’s Day in US in 2010 - 9 May)

2011 Mothering Sunday in UK in 2011 - 3 April
(Mother’s Day in US in 2011 - 8 May)

Why is Mothering Sunday on different dates each year?

Mothering Sunday is not a fixed day because it is always the middle Sunday in Lent (which lasts from Ash Wednesday to the day before Easter Sunday). This means that Mother’s Day in the UK will fall on different dates each year and sometimes even fall in different months.

Mothering Sunday has been celebrated in the UK on the fourth Sunday in Lent since at least the 16th century.

The History behind Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday was also known as ‘Refreshment Sunday’, Pudding Pie Sunday (in Surrey, England) or ‘Mid-Lent Sunday’. It was a day in Lent when the fasting rules were relaxed, in honour of the ‘Feeding of the Five Thousand’, a story in the Christian Bible.

The more usual name was Mothering Sunday. No one is absolutely certain exactly how the name of Mothering Sunday began. However, one theory is that the celebration could have been adopted from a Roman spring festival celebrating Cybele, their Mother Goddess.

As Christianity spread, this date was adopted by Christians. The epistle in the Book of Common Prayer for this Sunday refers to the heavenly Jerusalem as “the Mother of all us all”, and this may have prompted the customs we still see today.

People who visited their mother church would say they had gone “a mothering.” This tradition has now been replaced by honoring our Mother’s with a gift and card to show our appreciation for all that they do for us.

Young British girls and boys ‘in service’ (maids and servants) were only allowed one day to visit their family each year. This was usually on Mothering Sunday.

Often the housekeeper or cook would allow the maids to bake a cake to take home for their mother. Sometimes a gift of eggs; or flowers from the garden (or hothouse) was allowed. Thankfully, those days have now long past. Simply clicking on the Mother’s Day tab on our product menu will allow you to browse through a specially selected gift range, sure to delight and impress this Mother’s Day.