Why I don't subscribe to Mother's Day.

For most, Mother's Day signals its time to blow the lint off our 'savings' and splash out on gifts for our mums and grandmas. Our Lifestyle editor, Lisa, isn't so sure. To her, it's not about what you spend that counts - it's the effort behind it that matters.

Mother’s Day: The only day of the year we are allowed to show affection for our mums, or a great holiday that has become over-commercialised?

Either way - to me, it’s not worth all the effort that some companies try to make us all think it is. The email reminders calling for people to ‘not forget Mother’s day this year’ and ‘show your mum how much you love her’ start weeks before the big day. It’s just too much.

Every year brands cash in on trying to persuade consumers that they need to shell out hundreds of pounds to reassure our mums that we value how they raised us into normal citizens. 

No-one should spend all their money on an iPad in an attempt to show her that they care on one day out of 365. Instead, she should already know how lost they would be without her because she has been showered with hugs, appreciative texts and appreciates the effort spent to make time for her throughout the year. It’s effort that counts, not the price tag.

Cue Jessie J. It's not about the price tag...

For some reason card shops think that we need a specific day to show our mums how much we love them. It's as though, surely we can only express how thankful we are to one of the people that raised us in one 24-hour period. And we can only express this by buying a card, overpriced flowers and maybe even a box of chocolates. It may be cynical to suggest that this day is a way of tiding over the profits of gift and card shops from Valentine’s Day to Easter, but that’s really all it is.

While Mothering Sunday is a good excuse to make the journey home and spend the day dedicated to being with family, that doesn’t mean that people shouldn’t go home at other parts of the year as well.

In the first few years of University when you’ve just flown the nest for the first time it can be hard on a parent, but that should prompt semi-regular visits home, plus calls and texts rather than using a commercialised holiday to force you home.

After all, a mum is for life – not just for Mother’s day.

If you want an easy and cheap way to wow mum this Mother's day, take a look at our breakfast in bed recipes.

What's the nicest thing that you've done for mum?