Happy Mother's Day!

To all Mums I hope that you are spending time today with your kids. There is nothing quite like waking up to burnt toast, cold tea and even colder eggs, but shared with a dose of love that makes it all worthwhile.

For lesbian couples, today can be double happy Mother's Day!

For many mums, there are fights with their ex'es. Sometimes, sadly, this means that on one of those days when happiness abounds, these women are separated from their children and know true loneliness.

If the matters end up at court, the courts are keen to make sure that children spend their time on Mother's Day with their mums. As I heard earlier this week, time spent by mothers with their kids on Mother's Day is "sacrosanct".

The ways this can happen are many but include:
- making a specific order for Mother's Day eg children be with Mum from 9am-5pm that day (or 9am that day to before school the following day);
-making an order that the children are with Mum that weekend, even if it means the weekends are swapped around it
- if Mum lives a long way away from the children, at least being able to speak to them by phone (preferably with the children to phone her), email or videolink or Skype.

If you are a Mum who does not see your children today and you don't have emotional support, make sure you have family or friends around. If you are truly alone today, of all days, if you are feeling down and need someone to talk to, call Lifeline Counselling on 13 1114.