I’ve banned Mother’s Day – I loathe the naff tat kids make & smug school mums are unbearable

I AGREE with Claudia Winkleman on most things – eyeliner, vertiginous heels, the fact a thick fringe takes years off you.

But after her comments this week, I’m also on side with the 52-year-old Strictly host’s opinion on Mother’s Day.

Mum-of-three Clare says she hates Mother's Day and all the tat kids make — Mum-of-three Clare says she hates Mother’s Day and all the tat kids makeCredit: Wayne Perry

She's banned the day from her house and would rather be left alone than receive gifts — She’s banned the day from her house and would rather be left alone than receive giftsCredit: Supplied

As well as the fact that we both have three children – our eldest in their 20s – we might as well be besties now we both hate Mothering Sunday.

Mum-of-three Claudia revealed: “I can’t stand it. If the children come even near me with anything that resembles a card, a flower, a breakfast in bed, a speech, I’m gonna stop you there.

“Now let me just say if they want to unload the dishwasher . . . they can do that on the other days. My eldest is twenty-one, I’m like, just lie there and let me do it.”

I couldn’t agree with her sentiments more. Like Claudia, I can’t stand it. Just the words Mother’s Day make my eye twitch.

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I hate the commercial nature of it all and the cost of flowers going up so much for a few poxy days.

I loathe the tat kids make at school and detest how smug every mum manages to look for 24 hours – I mean, it’s only childbirth, honestly.

My first Mother’s Day was at the tender age of 25 in 2005. My eldest, Eddie, was just one and his dad, Jon decided a pop CD was an appropriate Mother’s Day gift.

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I was awoken at 5.42am proudly by Jon foisting a crying Eddie onto me who decided he wanted to be fed before I unwrapped my £15 gift.

Fast forward 19 years and while Eddie has thankfully forgotten Mother’s Day for the last few years and my middle son Sammy, 15, the same – it’s our daughter Annie, 13, who refuses to let the day die.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate being a parent, I love it and it’s been one of the defining roles in my life. I just hate the day someone – most likely Mr Clinton or Mr Hallmark – decided should be set aside to celebrate mothers.

Clare didn't send her mum a Mother's Day card for ten years — Clare didn’t send her mum a Mother’s Day card for ten yearsCredit: Stewart Williams – The Sun

When I think about it too, I’m not even a good mum. I refused to spend money on costumes for them to take part in World Book Day for years and I never made – or even bought – cakes for the school cake sales.

I’ve resolutely refused to run the line at the middle one’s football matches for a decade and I have to be reminded to top up dinner money cards which means the kids often go hungry at lunch times at school.

Hell, I even forgot to apply for primary school for my middle child – what on earth is there to celebrate me for?

Even if you take out the fact I’m hardly Mum of the Year material, why should I expect my kids to congratulate me for something they didn’t even have a say in?

They didn’t ask to be born so why should I expect them to celebrate my maternal brilliance – or lack of it in my case.

While I’m a pretty lousy mum, if Mother’s Days of the 80s, 90s and 00s are anything to go by, I’m also a pretty bad daughter when it comes to celebrating my own dear mum Irene.

I think my unbroken streak of not sending her a Mother’s Day card was around a decade from 1999 to 2009. It was only when my dad Mick stepped in and said it meant a lot to my mum, 76, I relented and started to send her cards again – which inevitably arrive a few days after the fact because (sorry, Mum) I always post them the Monday after the big day.

I loathe the tat kids make at school and detest how smug every mum manages to look for 24 hours.”

Clare O’Reilly

I know she still has a picture and pin cushion I made at Brownies when I was around eight but while she cherishes it, I see the stuff the kids used to make as a mess I have to clean up and recycle.

Besides, it’s invariably me who has to drive around several Hobbycraft stores for a Pritt Stick, coloured cardboard or other ridiculous items so my kids can try and fail at making something they’ve seen on TikTok or YouTube.

I’m over breakfast in bed too – not least because it has always involved tepid coffee and burned toast – except for the year they spilled the lot coming up the stairs which then resulted in me spending Mother’s Day at Homebase buying ‘brilliant white’ and painting over my oat milk latte which adorned the staircase wall.

Frankly, I’d rather the fruit of my loins left me alone and gave me peace and quiet on Mothering Sunday. If the day is about celebrating mums I’d rather they celebrate far away from me and gave me back a glimpse of what my life before kids looked like.

I don’t want cards, I don’t want gifts, I don’t want flowers. I’d quite like a lie in and to not have to drop them off or pick them up for once – if they could empty the dishwasher, pick up their towels off the floor and make their beds too, that’d be the best Mother’s Day gift ever.