Mother’s Day: Sydney preschools switch to ‘parent’s day’ under inclusive push

Celebrating Mother’s Day is not as straightforward as it used to be, with the PC brigade hoping to rename the day. Here are the Sydney preschools running non-gendered events.

A growing number of ­Sydney childcare centres and preschools have snubbed Mother’s Day this year and are instead hosting “Parents” or “Family Day” events under the woke banner of being more “inclusive”.

The attempts to replace Mother’s Day with non-gendered terms have been criticised for being part of a broader war on female-specific terms such as “pregnant woman” and “mothers”, as a result of the trans debate.

The Inner Sydney Montessori School, which has preschools and a primary school with campuses around Balmain and Rozelle, is now hosting a “Parents and Carers” morning tea.

Another up-market preschool in Sydney’s east sent a letter home to parents last week advising they had ­“decided to change the name of our annual Mother’s Day breakfast to Family Day Breakfast. This will allow all families to be included”.

At Stanmore Kindy, there is a pause on celebrations this year because of Covid, but it said it had already switched to a parents’ day prior to the pandemic “out of inclusive reasons”.

(File image) Children playing at preschool, some of which are no longer hosting Mother’s Day events. Picture: Rob MacColl

At Bellingen Public School, the local P & C association has run a “Mother’s and Parents Day” stall so the wording could be “inclusive as much as possible”, they say.

Organisers told parents that “we are hoping to have some gifts on the stall that will also suit dads who are doing both jobs. So keep that in mind too when considering gift donation ideas”.

A P & C spokeswoman said: “I am aware that Father’s and Mother’s day can be a painful time for children who feel there is not a place for them. They have also always given their mother a gift on Father’s day.”

Blaxland Preschool Kindergarten in the Blue Mountains was also asked about their approach to the day, but would not disclose whether they were holding traditional Mother’s Day events, stating “we want to make sure events are inclusive for all children”.

But Women’s Forum Australia chief executive Rachael Wong said the term “parents day” would theoretically be just as insensitive as “Mother’s Day”.

“Perhaps the change has been made in a bid to be sensitive to those whose mothers are no longer around for various reasons, but what about those who no longer have any parents?” she said.

Women's Forum chief executive Rachael Wong.

“Wouldn’t Parent’s Day also be insensitive? Given attempts to abolish terms like “mother”, “women” and other female-related terms from the public discourse, it is reasonable to suspect that this is yet another attempt to erase women in a misguided attempt to be ‘inclusive’.”

A concerned Sydney mother whose child missed out on a Mother’s Day event said she thought it was “part of a wider trend of eliminating mums, which is upsetting”.

Official advice from Early Childhood Australia: “Avoid gender stereotypes in children’s crafts. Steer away from cards with flowers for mum or ties for dad.” Picture: Supplied

“It’s nonsensical because same-sex female couples can celebrate Mother’s Day and same sex-male couples can celebrate Father’s Day,” she said.

“A sensitive approach for children who don’t have mums is to have a mothers and special friends day.”

The official advice from peak early childhood advocacy group Early Childhood Australia on April 20 about handling Mother’s Day says that a new resource has been developed for childcare staff to “deepen their understanding of inclusion and diversity”.

The tips tell educators to give the children the option to make a gift for a special adult, “not necessarily a mum”.

“Avoid gender stereotypes in children’s crafts. Steer away from cards with flowers for mum or ties for dad.”

Originally published as Mother’s Day: Sydney preschools switch to ‘parent’s day’ under inclusive push