Mother DOES know best

IT’S official: Your mother really does know best – but most people don’t realise it until the age of 26, according to a survey.

The poll shows that nearly half the population ignored the advice their mum gave them as they were growing up, only to look back and agree that it was actually good sense.

And nearly six in ten say they fully appreciated their own mothers only when they had children themselves.

The survey of 2,000 Britons by the Post Office for Mother’s Day this Sunday also reveals a long list of all the things she was right about.

Treating people as you would like to be treated yourself was the advice most often mentioned, cited by 42 per cent of those questioned in the multiple choice poll. Family comes first, life isn’t fair sometimes, and if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all are other popular pearls of wisdom passed on by mothers. More than a third said they wished they had listened to their mums more, while a fifth say they have turned into a younger version of their mothers, with 31 the average age when this happened.

Three- quarters of those polled will make a special effort to visit their mothers this Sunday, and of those who can’t, two-thirds will send a card and half will put a present in the post.

Four in ten say that their mum is their best friend and they talk to them an average of eight times a week.

Four in ten also share their mother’s sense of humour, a third like the same food, while a quarter have adopted the same parenting style. But only a sixth share the same political views.

Laura Joseph of the Post Office said: ‘It’s great to see how much our mums and the special women in our lives mean to us, even though we probably should have listened to them more.’