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It's Mother's Day this Sunday (March 15), with people up and down the country taking the day to celebrate the maternal figures in their lives, whether that's mums, grandmas, aunts, or even close friends. But have you ever wondered why the date for this holiday changes so drastically every year?

Mother's Day is usually in March, but it's not on a fixed date. It's always on a Sunday, but although it falls in the middle of the month this year, it was on the 30th of March in 2025, the 10th in 2024, and will be on the 7th in 2027. The holiday in the UK is also vastly different from the same holiday in the US, which is always on the second Sunday in May.

But that's for one very good reason - they aren't actually the same holiday.

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What we commonly call Mother's Day in the UK is actually Mothering Sunday, and it's not supposed to be a celebration of our maternal figures. Instead, it's a religious holiday celebrated on the 4th Sunday of Lent, which is also known as Mid-Lent Sunday or Refreshment Sunday.

Lent is a Christian holiday that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends just before Easter. The date for Easter Sunday changes every year because it is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first astronomical full moon that occurs following the vernal equinox, which is fixed at the 21st of March.

Easter's changing date also changes when Lent begins, which in turn moves when the middle of Lent, and therefore Mothering Sunday, is celebrated.

The reason for the changing date was discussed in a Reddit post on the Explain Like I'm Five forum, where people ask questions and receive answers written simply and clearly so that the average five-year-old child could understand.

When asked why Mother's Day is on a different date in the UK and the US, one person explained: "UK Mother's Day actually isn't Mother's Day at all: it's Mothering Sunday, and was the day that people would visit the 'mother church' - usually the nearest cathedral - for a special service on the 4th Sunday in Lent.

"It didn't have anything to do with mothers really, but domestic servants were given the day off to visit their mother churches, and would use the chance to also visit their families."

In the US, Mother's Day was created in 1908 by a woman named Anna Jarvis, who wanted to honour her mother and campaigned for a day to be set aside for all mothers. At the same time, the tradition of Mothering Sunday was dying out in the UK, and people began to associate it with mothers and adopted it as the UK version of the US holiday.

The British Library website claims that while Mothering Sunday didn't specifically have anything to do with mothers at first, it was common for servants to return home to visit their families during this time, and is particularly common for female servants to spend time with their mothers and even bring them gifts.

Referencing a book titled The Revising of Mothering Sunday from 1921 by C. Penwick Smith, the website states: "With these she collected a body of evidence for the traditions surrounding Mid-Lent Sunday, which ranged from the practice of daughters visiting their mothers – especially important for those engaged as domestic servants away from home – to the gifts of simnel cakes or wafer cakes.

"Smith aimed to show that there was already an international tradition of honouring mothers of all types on the 4th Sunday in Lent, and this only needed to be strengthened through official recognition."

Whether you spend Mothering Sunday with your family or still visit your mother church to honour the tradition of the holiday, we hope you enjoy your day!