Mother’s day is a wonderful day to celebrate and thank our mothers for all that they do for us each day. Teachers at school often spend a day learning about families and making crafts for children to take home for their mothers. However not all children have a mother, which makes it more challenging to do a mother’s day lesson.
There are many alternative families nowadays, single mums, single dads, lesbian mums, gay dads and children may even be brought up by grandparents, aunties or foster carers.
If you have a child in a class who has no mother, don’t shy away from Mother’s day. This child may already be aware that they are different, so being included will make them feel more positive to towards this day. Highlight the ways in which a mother loves and helps us and show the class that other family members in our lives can do the same things.
Talking to a class about differences in families will help them be more accepting from an early age. Ask questions of the class such as ‘What do our mums do for us?’, ‘Why do we love our mums?’ and ‘Who else may care for us like a mother does?’.
If a child has a single father or two-fathers, show the similarities between what a father and mother do for a child and that fathers love and care for their children just as much as mothers. If a child has grandmother who cares for them, highlight that a grandmother is a mother too.
Alternatively why not see if the child has an idea of their own about who they would like to make a card or crafts for. No matter what your family dynamics are, mother’s day is a great excuse for a celebration. For all lesbian families it a double celebration!
Happy mother’s to all parents from Pride Angel.
Read more about alternative families and gay parenting at www.prideangel.com