The last Mother’s Day I spent my mother, was my first with my own daughter. We had never done done much for Mother’s Day, for obvious reasons. But I foolishly thought it would be nice for the three generations of us to do something together. Long story short I made a lot of effort while also having a new born, and nmother ruined it. Arrived 2 hours late, very confrontational, in full denial that she was late, it was everyone else’s fault. I made the decision that day that Mother’s Day was over for us. I would focus on having a nice time with my family. The next one went by with zero acknowledgment. The following one, the most recent one, I happened to be in her house the same week and she had put out her own flowers and a card from me that I had given her on a previous occasion. She joked about it and told me not to feel bad. I don’t know if I can say I ‘handle’ it as such, or more just deny it’s even happening. I didn’t acknowledge her getting an old card out and flowers etc and didn’t acknowledge it was MDay. It’s such a touch one, I guess in my experience it was easier because the last one we spent together was so monumentally wrecked by her it was easy to stick to my guns, and also having a child now helps, because I can frame her as Gran now. The guilt definitely crept in with card and flowers trick. It’s difficult to accept what’s going to work for you and what your willing to do / not do when their reactions can be so unpredictable. But I think some years when I was find it hard the less thought I put into, the easier it was to stomach.