Mother's Day is important for children.

This Mother's Day take note how your children celebrate the occasion. They will probably celebrate it in much the same way year after year. Do they do anything special for you? Do they do the same things as they did last year? Maybe they give you breakfast in bed and insist on unwrapping gifts before you eat? Maybe they wrap their gifts in a certain way or hide them throughout the house, as occurs in one family. Take note of the special activities that your loved ones create and develop on Mother's Day. We often take these for granted but it is in the differences and uniqueness that the power of rituals lie.

It is the rituals of events such as Mother's Day that are significant. Australian psycholgist Andrew Fuller calls family rituals "the coathooks upon which we hang your family and childhood memories". Family rituals such as Mother's Day are extraordinarily protective for children as in times of change it is the rituals that remain constant.

Rituals such as Mother's Day are also anchors to childhood for adolescents. Even teenagers tend to celebrate important days such as Mothers Days and birthdays in the same ways that they did when they were young. At a time when they are rapidly moving toward adulthood the ritual of Mother's Day helps them to revisit their childhoods at least for a time. Also as everything in their world becomes increasingly transient it is a reminder that some things don't change.

If you are a new mother then you will be shaping the way that Mother's Day will be celebrated. You will probably bring some traditions from your family of origin, particularly if Mother's Day was a special event. If you got together as a family for lunch then you will probably keep that tradition going in your new family and integrate with visits to your family of origin.

Strong families value rituals such as Mother's Day. They look for every opportunity to gather and guard these rituals assiduously. It is rituals that bring everyone together when life gets frantic and other activities get tossed aside. When families begin to break down it is rituals that are the first casualities of conflict.

As families become increasingly similar in this media age it is important to maintain those distinctive traditions and rituals such as the way you celebrate Mother's Day that make each family special and signify a child's significance within his primary social group ? his family.

Michael Grose is one of Australia's most popular parenting educators. The author is six books for parents Michael is in heavy demand as a speaker, writer and parenting educator. Visit http://www.parentingideas.com.au and subscribe to Happy Kids, his high quality fortnightly email newsletter or sign-up for one of his free online courses.