Some mothers do ‘ave ‘em
Mother’s Day may be a little different this year, with the government urging people to implement social distancing.
If you are planning to spend time with your mum this Mother’s Day, you should try to stay at least two metres apart, wash your hands regularly, and do everything you can to ensure surfaces are clean in order to help prevent the risk of coronavirus.
The government has produced guidance on a range of social distancing measures that people can take to reduce the transmission of coronavirus, including avoiding gatherings with friends and family - particularly for those with an increased risk, such as those aged 70 or older (regardless of medical conditions) and those aged below 70 with underlying health conditions.
Before the big day, we caught up with shift manager and supermum of five, Bernadette Moat, from Home Counties North Mail Centre, to get her views on the best and most difficult things about being a mum.
‘Hi, I’m Bernie. I’m a mum of five, step mum of three and nan to six. My five children are Charlotte, who is 28, Andrew, who is 26 and an early shift manager at Princess Royal Distribution Centre (PRDC), 23-year-old Amy, who is a mum of three, Danielle, who is 20 and has two kids of her own, and finally, my 15-year-old transgender son, Ash, who you can read more about here.
‘My three step children are 30-year-old Jemma, Ben, who’s 29 and 21-year-old Ella. 21. I’ve also got six grandchildren; five-year-old Corey-James, three-year-olds Ollie and Autumn, Rosie-May and Jack are both 21 months, and the newest member of the clan, Harrison, who was only born three weeks ago.
‘I am so immensely proud of all of them. They’re all so different and they all want different things in life. The best thing about being a mum is the unconditional love for each other and knowing that they know they can come to me with anything they need.
‘Absolutely nothing surprises me now! People who know me say they don’t need to watch any of the soaps on the telly as they can simply ask me what the latest is in my family!
‘The hardest thing about being a mum I would say is not being able to fix feelings. When my kids’ feelings are hurt, it crushes me.
‘Mother’s Day for me is normally really busy, but it’s also really nice. The house is usually filled with children and there’s always lots of banter and laughter, sometimes now, even squabbles, but always so plenty of love.
‘I’m not sure what we’re going to do this Mother’s Day given the current circumstances, but we’ll be sure to make it special regardless. Happy Mother’s Day to all you mums out there for Sunday.’
