7 Children’s TV Mums We Love

Here’s to you, Mum! This Mother’s Day, we’re celebrating our favourite on-screen mums and mother figures from Australian children’s TV.

Glenda from Mortified

Played by Rachel Blakely

Glenda is expressive, exuberant, given to fleeting enthusiasms. She grew up as a flower child from a hippie town. Those freewheeling years in a sarong gave Glenda a taste for all things a little bit New Age. She is committed to massage and Feng Shui and the peculiar psychic predictions of her cousin, Mystic Marj.

Glenda adores Don and the girls. She is openly affectionate and believes in publicly workshopping her feelings – much to the embarrassment of both her daughters. Like Taylor, Glenda can be quite feisty. If she believes in a cause, she is willing to fight for it. But like Don, her methods can be quite unorthodox.

Why we love her: No one can spruik a training bra in a supermarket quite like Glenda.

Joy from Lockie Leonard

Played by: Briony Williams

Joy is “Mum” to Lockie and Phillip. She is a force in her sons’ lives, acutely attuned to their emotional needs while caring for a baby girl still in nappies. She might not be the best at cooking, but she loves it anyway. She is a bit of a worrier but always works to make the best of things. Joy is sensitive, caring and loved by her family.

Why we love her: Lockie’s ‘worst moment of his life, bar none’ is facing his parents after cheating on a maths test. When he finally faces the music and fesses up, Joy replies: “I love the kids I have – the order in which they were born and the flaws they were born with… I love you boys, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Nanna from Little J and Big Cuz

Played by: Ningali Lawford-Wolf

Nanna has a strong sense of self. She’s smart but doesn’t deliver her knowledge from on high. She encourages learning but she’s happy for Little J and Big Cuz to learn by their own mistakes and only help them out when they really need it.

Nanna has a life of her own working part time at the local council, but her grandchildren are everything to her. She is fiercely loyal but refuses to spoil them. She also puts in time at the school and has a great relationship with the kids’ teacher Ms Chen.

Why we love her: She is a good tracker, knows all the plants and their uses, and knows where to find the best bush tucker. She also makes the best Spaghetti Bolognese and can fix just about anything mechanical! Nanna is knowledgeable, generous, warm, and never takes a backward step, ever.

Amanda from First Day

Played by: Joanne Hunt

When Amanda first realises Hannah might be transgender, she immerses herself in research so that she can better support her daughter. Amanda knows how distressing living as male is to Hannah. Amanda and her husband, Steve, decide early on they will follow Hannah’s lead and let her dictate the pace and nature of her transition.

Amanda and Hannah share many of the same traits. They have a similar sense of humour and are both very stubborn. As a mother, all Amanda wants is for both her children to live a long, peaceful, fulfilling, and happy life. She’ll do anything she can to give each of them the best chance of that happening.

Why we love her: ‘The first day is always the hardest’ – Amanda provides ongoing and unconditional support to Hannah as she prepares for the transition to high school.

Auntie from Hardball

Played by: Maria Walker

Rough, direct, and full of wisdom, it is just a pity that Auntie’s advice comes in the form of near-impossible-to-decipher automotive metaphors. Running a mechanic shop out the back of her suburban home means she’s got a new set of wheels every day, which she uses to drop Mikey at school. She’s used to living alone and her prickly demeanour can scare people off. It certainly alarms Mikey in the early days. But really, she’s got a heart of gold and over time, she becomes a major source of strength in Mikey’s life.

Why we love her: “So, how long you been my Auntie?”
“How long you been alive?”
“Aw, about 10 years.”
“’Bout 10 years then.”
“Sweet as.”

Jen from Mustangs FC

Played by: Pia Miranda

Jen and Marnie enjoy a close bond and consider each other friends as well as family – although sometimes Marnie acts like the mum when Jen is the kid. Jen loves her daughter to death. They sometimes fight but they can always make each other laugh.

Jen goes at life with a passion but isn’t necessarily always super Mum. She’s not the most organised person but will give anything a go, including soccer coaching.

Why we love her: Jen is a good sport to take on the role of the Mustangs’ coach before Dani comes along. She also receives bonus points for teaching headers with a bike helmet and bringing muffins to matches.

Vee from Ready For This

Played by: Christine Anu

Once with a promising singing career, Vee lost her way and took the job at Arcadia House to simply survive. Resistant at first, she gradually starts to connect with the teenagers and by the end of the year, she is fiercely protective of them all.

Why we love her: When Ava’s stage fright is getting the best of her, it is Vee’s solution – Koorioke – that saves the day. When Ava takes Vee’s advice and sings only to Macy – she finally has the courage to be a star.