Sunrise star to spend Mother's Day in Canberra

The Sydney-based breakfast TV host was asked how she was going to spend the day during a discussion about how much Australians were going to spend on their mum this year (an average of $100 each, ING Bank money expert Matt Bowen reckons).

For Barr, presents were not her top priority.

"I'm going to Canberra [for the day] - just spending time with your kids [is gift enough]," Barr said.

"I miss them so much. I'm going to see my little boy.

"I'm also going to Coffee Club with a bunch of other mums, which is fantastic."

Pancakes will be on the menu, apparently.

The TV presenter said she could not wait to see her younger son Hunter, who is studying at university in Canberra. She and husband Andrew Thompson also have an elder son, Lachlan, 22.

Barr has been up front about the challenges of adjusting to life as an empty-nester, with both her boys now moved out of the family home.

"The house is quiet after years of noise and sweat and boy smell," she wrote in a column for 7News.com.au earlier this year.

"Our boys are men and the sayings all the older parents have told me over the years are swimming through my mind: 'The days are long but the years are short', 'They grow up so fast'.

Life had taken a shift.

"Our 18-year-old, our youngest, is packing to move away to university, and I feel like I've been hit by a truck. Did I do enough and be enough for them because 'Phase 1' is over, and we will never get it back?" Barr wrote in her column.

"I have loved it with every bone in my body. But now what?

"And then I'm reminded about another saying from the parents who've been here before ... 'Your children are only on loan to you'. Hopefully, our best is enough, they are ready for 'Phase 2', and we can hang on for the next part of the ride."

We wish Barr a very happy Mother's Day with Hudson in the national capital.