Name: British Mother's Day Mystery - Why It's NOT in May?
Uploaded: 2026-03-12T13:36:31.000Z
Duration: 5 min 27 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Past simple

Did you know that Mother's Day in the UK is not celebrated in May?

Present continuous

But why do Brits celebrate Mother's Day earlier than the rest of most of the world?

And why does the date change every single year?

Well, let's unravel this little mystery together.

In the uk, we don't just call it Mother's Day, we can also call it Mothering Sunday.

And unlike the American version, which is fixed to the second Sunday in May, ours moves around.

That's because in the uk, Mothering Sunday is connected to Easter, which follows the lunar calendar.

So British Mother's Day falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent.

Originally, it had nothing to do with mums at all.

It was a religious festival where people would return to their mother church, that's the main church in their local area.

It was often the only day off for servants and apprentices in a whole year, so.

Over time, this tradition transformed into what we now know as Mother's Day.

A chance to say thank you to the amazing women who raised us with a card, a box of chocolates, some flowers, or even a well deserved cup of tea in bed.

Let's now look at some common vocabulary that you might use on this special day.

Firstly, let me mention the most important word.

In British English we spell this with a U M U M and the pronunciation of that middle vowel is.

This means to treat someone with extra kindness.

Usually for a special occasion, you might spoil them.

Here is one of my favourites, breakfast in bed.

Breakfast in bed is simply serving someone their morning breakfast while they are still in bed.

Although I have to be honest, these days I would be more concerned about crumbs and spillages in my bed.

So I'd actually be happier to come down to the breakfast table.

This is just the most common way to talk about a bouquet.

So if someone has gifted you a bouquet or you're thinking of getting a bouquet for someone that you love, your mum perhaps, or your wife, then you could just simply use the term a bunch of flowers.

The next few items of vocabulary are my favourites.

Take it easy means relax, slow down, don't stress, don't worry, just relax, take it easy.

It's something that you'd say to somebody when you want them to relax.

Very similar to that is to take a load off.

To take a load off means to sit down and relax.

The idea that when you're standing is that you're holding weight, you're holding a load and being told to take a load off means sit down, take a load off.

Next we have another similar phrase which is to put your feet up.

To put your feet up is another expression used to describe relaxing, the idea that someone might sit back in a chair and put their feet up.

This is special time that you use to focus on relationship building.

So we often spend quality time with someone special.

Do you celebrate Mother's Day in your country?

If so, what day is it usually on and what are some of the traditions that you follow?

Personal Please let me know in the comments and if you enjoyed this video then please take a second to leave a like and for more English lessons and British culture, please also subscribe now.

We're also coming up to Easter, so if you want to learn more about Easter in the UK then I have a video for you to watch just here.

I'll also link in the description as well.

Until then, take very good care and goodbye.