Let me be very clear, flowers and chocolates are always welcome at our place. But when the last of the Easter eggs are quickly replaced in stores with the telltale slippers, bath robes and fizzy bath bombs, it can feel like Mothers Day is just another commercial opportunity. Enter, the Mothers Day Interview! We started this lovely tradition in our family when our eldest was four and we’ve continued it for the past ten years.
A Mothers Day Interview is a quick, easy, meaningful and unique gift that’ll be treasured for many years.
Mothers Day is a fantastic opportunity to encourage kids to acknowledge their Mum’s best efforts and their contribution to the family. So, even if your kids still like to go the traditional route of buying or making a gift (ours do), a Mothers Day Interview can be a lovely addition to the celebrations.
Read on for tips and printables to try it with your own family this Mothers Day.
The Mothers Day Interview
What is a Mothers Day Interview? Well, it’s super simple. We wrote down a few questions (eg My mum’s favourite food is…, My mum laughs when… and so on), then my Hubby recorded our daughter answering them, and that’s it!
The whole ‘interview’ only went for a few minutes but it is absolutely priceless. We’ve kept up this annual tradition most years since and we actually re-watched some of the early interviews recently. It was amazing to see how much our kids have grown and changed. Our now thirteen and ten year olds were in stitches laughing at some of their own responses from the prior years. It was so gorgeous to hear a four year old’s thoughts about their Mum from ten years ago too.
If you’d like to try this idea, check out our FREE printables. Your kids can use one, two, or all three to create a meaningful and unique gift this Mothers Day.
The Mothers Day interview can be created at the last minute with no advance preparation at all. Sometimes ‘off the cuff’ answers are the most memorable. But if you have a bit more time, or would like to make the finished a product slightly more ‘polished’, these tips might come in handy.
Tips for conducting a Mothers Day Interview
You don’t need any high tech equipment
- If you have a video recorder, that’s great! If not, the ‘video’ function on a smart phone is fine. The finished interview can be replayed directly from the recording device, transferred to a USB, or recorded in a way that can be watched through your TV. If you have access to movie making software, you might like to get fancy by adding text and music, but this certainly isn’t necessary.
Set them up for success
- If you’re a Mum reading this, and you don’t think your partner or friend might stumble upon this post, then don’t feel bad about printing the printables and letting them know you’d like this for Mothers Day. I love my Hubby dearly but this may not have been on his radar. Once I suggested it initially, he loved the idea, had fun making it with our daughter, and even added text and so on to the video.
- If you have time, let your kids have a copy of the questions in advance. If they’re a bit older, they might like to jot down some ideas. If they aren’t reading yet, ask your partner, or whoever will be recording the interview, to run through the questions with the kids beforehand, so they have a chance to think about the answers. If you’re short on time, just have the kids answer the questions without any prep.
Beware of context
- If Mum’s just had to discipline the kids, or the kids are in a bad mood for whatever reason, then hold off. The Mothers Day Interview is meant to be a bit of fun and something positive. Not an exposé of all the things Mum could apparently be doing better. Getting the kids in a good mood before you start might be a good idea.
- When Hubby and our daughter made our first video, I happened to be in the kitchen washing up. It was so funny to hear how many times ‘washing up’ came up as an answer to questions ranging from ‘My Mum is really good at…’ to ‘My Mum spends lots of time…’. The answers may not be a true reflection but they’re sure to be super cute at the very least.
Let them choose their outfit
- If something’s going to be immortalised on film, it can be tempting to think everything needs to be perfect. Let your kids have fun choosing what to wear for their interview. Let them know they’re creating something special for Mum and let them be creative in what they think is appropriate clothing and hairstyle wise.
Printables:
*Mothers Day Interview Questions
These are some of the questions we’ve used over the years. Use them for your own family, or as a prompt to come up with your own questions. The blank list can be written on directly, or used as the basis for creating a recorded Mothers Day interview. Click here for the Mothers Day Interview Questions printable.
*10 things I love about my Mum
Print one page for each of your kids. Ask whoever is organising this Mother Day gift to ask each child to write ten things they love or appreciate about their mum. Click here for the 10 things I love about my Mum printable.
*Mum and Me page
This page can be used by kids to draw a picture of themselves with their Mum, or stick a photo onto it. Click here for the Mum and Me printable.
Grab all three printables as one document here.
*Do you live somewhere that ‘Mum’ is spelt ‘Mom’? Then grab the above pages here as one document with the alternate spelling!
We’ve been doing these Mothers Day Interviews with our two kids most years, for the past ten years. The kids enjoy looking back on them as much as we do. It can be interesting to hear what responses are given to the same questions over the years. Especially when the kids are at different ages and stages.
So whether this is a one off, or the start of a new family tradition for you, have fun with it! It may even give you some insight into what your kids truly value about their mum.
Wishing all the Mum’s out there a very happy Mothers Day!
Family Creative Challenge:
Print our three Mothers Day Interview printables and let your kids use some, or all, of them to create a meaningful Mothers Day gift for a special mum in your life.
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