Modern Family’s Only Mother’s Day Episode Is Full Of Hilarious & Relatable Moments

When you think of Modern Family, you probably think of moms. Specifically Claire Dunphy (Julie Bowen) and Gloria Pritchett (Sophia Vergara). Sure, the Emmy award-winning sitcom that ended in 2020 focused on everyone, from kids to partners to kids’ partners, but throughout its 11 seasons, motherhood was its true north star. Which is why it might come as a surprise to some that there is just one Mother’s Day episode of Modern Family. Although Claire and Gloria would probably say this is sort of typical, especially considering the theme of that one episode. Here’s everything you need to know.

Season 2 of Modern Family featured the only “Mother’s Day” episode of the series.

The one and only Mother’s Day episode, aptly titled “Mother’s Day,” happened way back in 2011 during the second season of Modern Family. The episode is a good one, of course. Claire and Gloria band together to take all of their kids on a Mother’s Day hike, which turns out to be disastrous, while Phil (Ty Burrell) and Jay (Ed O’Neill) get together to cook a feast. Cam (Eric Stonestreet) gets upset at Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) after he heavily implies that he is the “mom” in their relationship to their daughter Lily (Aubrey Anderson-Emmons). He can barely even eat the breakfast in bed Mitch prepared for him... on Mother’s Day. The episode is especially notable, however, for a rare emotional moment for Jay, who ends up breaking down in tears over Mother’s Day dinner when he talks about his own mom. A real full circle moment.

While this was the only Mother’s Day episode on Modern Family, the reality is that the series managed to dig deep into what motherhood really looks like with the lightest of touches in every single episode. Both Claire and Gloria make mistakes with their kids. They get mad at their kids, like in this episode when Claire admits that “sometimes I want to punch my kids” after they all act like brats on their Mother’s Day hike. Even Gloria finally admits that Manny (Rico Rodriguez) is “persnickety” and she hates his poetry. But the love is always there. Just ask Jay, who cries over his mom’s sauce recipe and says “You only get one mom.” It’s pretty beautiful.

How can you watch Modern Family’s “Mother’s Day” episode?

You can stream Season 2, Episode 11 of Modern Family, “Mother’s Day,” on Hulu and Peacock.

Modern Family has other mom-centric episodes.

If you want to watch a few more mom-centered Modern Family episodes on Mother’s Day, consider checking out some of the other moms on the series. Like the delightfully complicated DeDe (Shelley Long), absentee mom to Claire and Mitchell, who shows up in Season 9, Episode 20 called “Mother!” for a surprise visit and gives us all a little insight into the effect she has on the family dynamic. Or back to Season 2, Episode 9 “Mother Tucker,” when Cam’s mom comes to town and gets weird with Mitchell.

There are so many different kinds of moms in the world, and Modern Family really did its best to try to give voice to these different dynamics. Even if they did just give us that one Mother’s Day episode.