Mother’s Day can be complicated.

For some, it is full of flowers, cards and roast dinners. For others, it comes with mixed emotions – absence, grief, or relationships that don’t fit the usual picture.

I don’t have a mum and haven’t since I was 18, and my youngest sibling was 7, and while that has shaped me in many ways, it has also taught me something important: family isn’t always traditional, but it is always built on love.

Despite being the eldest of 4 sisters, my younger siblings  have stepped into that nurturing “mother” role for me. They check in, they encourage, they tell me when I’m doing too much, and they remind me to rest and I hope I return the favour.

Mothering doesn’t always come from one person. It can come from sisters, aunties, friends, grandmothers, neighbours, teachers – people who show up, care deeply and quietly hold you together without any expectation.

At Meg Rivers, Mother’s Day is not just about one kind of story. It is about honouring whoever has loved you, raised you, supported you, or simply been there when you needed them most. So I encourage you to send a card and a maybe a cake to your mum, your sister, a friend who has become family or for yourself. 

Remember there is no single way to do Mother’s Day properly. There is only your way.

With kindness

Jess