I read this thread last night and was so happy for, and jealous of all the girls that have great relationships with their mums I have a really bad relationship with mine and would never just ring her for a chat. She doesn't even bother to call us for our birthdays. I moved out of home when I was 15 and over the years, our relationship has gotten more and more strained. I find it very uncomfortable to spend time with her, and most major events in my life have a 'mum drama' associated with them. My engagement, my wedding, the birth of all of my children, Christmas all have resulted in some form of major blow up with her. One example is when we found out we were having twins, she said "Ohh.. Out of all of you girls, I'd always hoped it wouldn't be you that got twins". Just for the record, I think I am a great mum and love having twins. I could go on all day..but I won't I decided this year was the year I let go, and realised that I have so many other people in my life that love me so very much. It is very hard work and very hard to let go of though. For those that asked if I was scared of history repeating itself, I would say no in my case. I work very hard to make sure my children feel love and comfort from me. I tell them I love them every single day. I could not ever imagine not celebrating their birthdays with them, or being a part of my grandchildrens life when my kids have babies. I also see parenting role models in people other than my parents. I am super close to my 3 sisters (who have the same, and understand my relationship with my mother), I have friends who have parents who are terrific and I also have a best friend whose mother has passed away, and I see how much she loves and misses her. My DH is also very close to his mum and she is a terrific grandmother to our kids. Mothers Day makes me very uncomfortable because I feel like a fraud when choosing a card that says "You're a great mum!!" because she is not. For all those that have a great mum, make sure you give her a extra big squeezy cuddle xx