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Mothering Sunday and Father's Day

When the UK celebrates parents and the difference between Mother's Day in Britain and in America.

Mothering Sunday — often called Mother's Day in the UK — falls on the fourth Sunday of Lent (sometimes called Laetare Sunday), three weeks before Easter. The date moves each year and is usually in March. Originally a day on which Christians visited their "mother church", it has become a secular celebration of mothers, with cards, flowers and gifts.

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Father's Day in the UK is celebrated on the third Sunday in June, the same date as in the United States. Both are widely observed in card shops, restaurants and family gatherings, but neither is a public holiday.

You may be asked when Mothering Sunday falls (the fourth Sunday of Lent), or when Father's Day is (the third Sunday in June).

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