Ideas for a Blended Family on Mother's Day

Having a blended family creates problems on occasions like Mother's Day when our society reverts to mandates about traditional family structuring in order to be able to celebrate this holiday that affects all families in America. Today, holidays like Mothers Day upset many people as they struggle to fit their non-traditional lifestyles into this holiday that claims Mothers are just of the biological variety.

Blended families are people living under the same roof that are not biologically related.

Foster Care homes, gay or lesbian homes with children, living together homes with children, marriages with previous children, and other common examples are definitions of blended families.

Each family situation is different, and you must do what is right for your particular situation. Children often have two (or more) Mother figures in their lives; the birth mother who may be absent from the picture, and the physical Mother who takes care of the actual Mother jobs on a daily basis. Physical Mothers can be of either sex; single fathers are often Mothers, too.

For a Mother's Day type of holiday, the most important thing is that all children involved understand that your unique family structure is not of lesser value than the traditional version being promoted through the media for this event. Prior to the Mother's Day holiday ask your child what Mother's they want to celebrate; then plan accordingly.

Adults in blended families need to be aware of their needs on holidays like Mother's Day, too. Is somebody a physical Mother being ignored? Are there biological Mother's who are no longer alive? Does somebody want to be a Mother? Do you have missing children or Mother's involved? Try to be aware of everybody's feelings in the home and plan accordingly. Mother's Day is a celebration of life; this makes some people unhappy.

Below are some ideas for a blended family Mother's Day. Ideas from more than one category may appeal to you:

Foster Care Mother's Day celebrations can include simple things like giving the child involved two special desserts to eat after dinner: one for him and one for his biological Mom. Or, helping the child to make a special gift on Mother's Day (while they are missing their real mother) to give to his biological mother later.

Gay or Lesbian Mother's Day celebrations with children involved can be an event where both adults share gifts from the little ones in the home equally; or, a day when both adults explain how happy they are that the children are there and give them little gifts. On Mother's Day in blended family situations, it is totally okay to make your own rules.

Living Together Mother's Day celebrations can include letting the children light a special candle for the parent or parents who are not there celebrating. Offer to take digital pictures of the children that they can send to their non-present parent instantly if you go somewhere special. Let the children decide where the pictures should be taken.

Blended Married Mother's Day celebrations must include a brand new unique family tradition that fits your new blended family. Children who are coming from two different backgrounds into one new unit will enjoy feeling united through a new family Mother's Day ritual. Perhaps you will picnic for breakfast, or eat a bar-b-que dinner; it doesn't matter as long as it is your new special way of celebrating Mother's Day.