Mother’s day in Birmingham, like other parts of the United Kingdom, falls on the fourth Sunday in the Christian Festive season of Lent, with the date this year being the 3 April. The day in the UK was initially called Mothering Sunday, but changed to Mothers Day following its introduction by the USA and in line with other countries. The date of Mother’s Day in Birmingham and the rest of the UK differ from other countries with the USA and many others celebrating the day in 2011, on the 8 May.

On Mother’s Day, it is a day when many people make that special effort to visit their mother’s, and mother figures such as grandma’s and mother-in-laws and for those living far away to make contact by either letter, card or phone and in this day and age probably the internet.

Gifts for Mothers Day generally include flowers & shrubs, chocolate for the non slimming mom’s, various items of clothing, perfume, handbags, or jewellery. Just look out for the hints and signs from Mom as Mother’s Day in Birmingham approaches. Other families may decide to treat Mom to a meal, British, Chinese, Indian or whatever else takes her fancy.

A common Mother's Day gift is a traditional roast dinner with meat, potatoes & vegetables, which can be eaten in a pub or restaurant and accompanied by her favourite wine.

Many restaurants and pubs will be advertising Mother’s Day meals for weeks beforehand, with an encouragement to “Book Now and Avoid Disappointment”

Mother's Day gifts may also carry printed slogans such as "The World's Best Mom", “Mom's Glass”, or “Mom's Cup", “You Are The Best” or just a simple "Mom" on them. With the increase in print-on-demand services offered by photo processing companies, personalized gifts have become even more popular for Mother's Day. Photographs of children can be printed on T- shirts, calendars, mugs, bags and even ties.

For those searching for the ideal Mother's Day present, Birmingham is a shopper’s paradise offering numerous department stores, high street shops and shopping malls in abundance with the likes of Selfridges, Debenhams, Arcadian, House of Fraser, Bhs, Primark, the Pallasades Shopping Centre, The Great Western Arcade, Mailbox, one of the city’s premier shopping, lifestyle and restaurant locations with over fifty exclusive stores to choose from. The Bullring shopping centre and its adjacent markets is also a well worth a visit.

If you are looking for a present in gold or silver, in the shape of rings, necklaces/chains, earrings, brooches/pins, bracelets etc., why not visit the famous Birmingham Jewellery Quarter?  You will be absolutely amazed at the handmade jewellery on show and the asking prices indicated.

For gift ideas offered by Birmingham shops, check what’s on offer on the internet under the heading of Mother’s Day in Birmingham.

In the days and weeks before Mother's Day, infant schools will encourage their pupils to make a handmade card and/or gift for their mother. Other family members, mainly on the female side of the family, will also encourage and assist children in the making of personalized gifts, such as calendars with drawings attached which have been produced by the children.

Some families celebrate Mother's Day by planning an outing or weekend trip. This may be a simple walk in the park or a visit to one of the many places of interests in the City or surrounding areas.

With some of the more elderly children amongst us, who by now are perhaps parents themselves, have you ever considered a combined late Mother's Day and early Father's Day present? Why not treat them both to a show or similar. With the NIA, LG Arena, NEC, Symphony Hall, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Birmingham Hippodrome, Alexandra Theatre, Old Repertory Theatre, the Town Hall, O2 Academy etc, certainly offers numerous choices in this arena.

How about an interesting day at the National Sea Life Centre or the Mailbox.

If Mom and Dad are garden enthusiasts why not consider treating them to a day out at the Botanical Gardens & Glasshouses, with its various greenhouses filled with plants and trees from Tropical, Sub Tropical, Arid and Mediterranean regions, beautiful lawns and gardens plus everything else that it has to offer?

If they are both lovers of chocolate, how about a trip to Cadbury World?

Check on our Days Out pages, where a number of local places of interest have been identified.

Mother’s Day, like Fathers Day, is not a bank holiday. In terms of public life it is simply a normal Sunday. Public transport systems run to their normal timetables, with pubs and restaurants busy, as people take their fathers out for a meal as mentioned above, to celebrate the occasion.

The idea of a special day to honour mothers and celebrate motherhood was initially in the United States and then gradually adopted by other countries. In many instances the date changed to fall inline with other types of mothers day celebrations, like the Uk's Mothering Sunday. The dates vary with some countries adopting dates from February thru' to as late as December, with only the months of July, August & September missing from the celebration.

However, for a lot of dads and even some mom’s, especially the older ones amongst us, they cynically see the day as an exploitation by shops, restaurants, pubs and the other commercial organisations involved to simply make money from the occasion. They probably feel that way even more so in the current economical climate. There are probably more bunches of flowers sold on Mother’s Day in Birmingham than the total number of flower’s sold during the remainder of the year.

The following are Mother’s Day dates for the next five years - 18 May, 2012, 10 May, 2013, 30 May, 2014, 15 May, 2016 and 6 May 2017.

Whatever you decide, we at Activ Birmingham hope that Dad or Mom & Dad has/have a day to remember on this annual or if you decide, combined event.