***Thanks for all the comments, but I’m closing down commenting on this article. It’s at over 650 comments and that’s a ton to read, People are saying the same things over and over. In the spirit of keeping the conversation going, I’ve summed up the bulk of the post and what people are saying here and have started a new thread called More on Who is the mother from HIMYM.
Like most posts tat I really enjoy it’s overly in depth, check it out and let me know what you think!
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I feel that a big question for How I Met Your Mother fans has always been “Who is the mother?” And while we don’t have a definite answer, we can take what we do know so far and begin to formulate some ideas. This is a long one so go grab a drink and pull up a chair. By the way, HIMYM returns to us on March 17th! So hopefully soon there will be more to add to this list! Disclaimer: I love theories, but I have not posted anything here that cannot be backed up. Enjoy!
Who we know is NOT:
1. Robin is not the Mother. We learn this in the first episode and and it is reconfirmed countless times in all 3 seasons. No matter how much people “want it to happen, ” it just won’t. Get used to disappointment. In fact, for those still
letting the thought wonder in the empty space in your head let me share the best explanation / recap on the subject from tv.com forum user RUdaPs:
To explain the surprise of the “…and that’s how I met your Aunt Robin.” line in the pilot…
If you pay attention throughout the pilot, Future Ted always says things like “…and then I went to her apartment.” The assumption is that the kids are thinking the whole time that “she” and “her” are their mother because Future Ted says that he’s telling the story of how he met their mother. The only thing is, he doesn’t say a name. So at the end when he says “…and that’s how I met your Aunt Robin.” the kids are surprised.
It’s like watching “The Sixth Sense” for the first time. (If you haven’t seen it and would like to you should stop reading this and skip to the next paragraph.) You always assume that Bruce Willis is alive but it is never clearly stated. Then if you go back and watch it again, you realize that only the kid talks to him throughout the movie. Even though you thought it was obvious the story was about one thing it was clearly about another and you can go back and see what it was really about
2. The string of possible girls throughout Season 1. There was Natalie (Return of the Shirt), Ted’s old girlfriend, who knew Krav Maga. Coat Check Girl (OK Awesome), that Carter Bays even joked that if the writers strike ruined the show for good, she was the mother. Even though we never meet her (which would be a great idea for this season…hint, hint), the Slutty Pumpkin (from oddly enough the episode called the Slutty Pumpkin). Dr. Sara O’Brien (Matchmaker), the engaged 9.6 match found by love solutions. Trudy (the Pineapple Incident), who came back in the Third Wheel…let me side track here for a moment. Ted only says “I left Trudy a message, but she never called me back”…to me this implies he never saw her again, but I suppose that was the way around things for that episode (that and “Some stories you tell, some stories you don’t”…seriously, would would ever tell their kids they rode the tricycle)…anyhow moving on. There was Victoria from episodes 12-18, she was great, would have been nice, but she won’t be back (at least not as marriage material). Let’s not leave off Mary the Paralegal (and that is a shame…but when you don’t laugh it just seems mean). And I can sum all these up as “not the mama” because in the episode Lucky Penny from Season 2, Ted says:
“My destiny was to stay in New York. Because if I hadn’t, I never would have met your mother.”
Thus saying that up to this point, he has not met the mother yet, so we have not seen her. Take a moment and let that sink in if you need to.
3. Ted’s soul mate. Let’s camp on this one for a moment. Season 1 episode 21, Milk, the dating company finally comes through and finds Ted’s soul mate. Now if #2 is true then she could be included in that group. However, Ted never actually met her in person. Will this be a loophole? Will she ever play back in? I leave it to you…personally I feel, the “Soul Mate” is out of the picture or at very least not the mother…I just felt she needed to be mentioned.
4. The girls form Season 3 (so far). Well Season 2 was a wash as far as “the mother” because Ted was with Robin the whole time. And in Season 3 so far I don’t think we have seen any potential for a “mother character”. In some of the recent interviews with the creators of HIMYM they confirm this thought (more or less). In the Platinum Rule, Ted say something about that being all with Dr. Stella for now…but I seriously doubt she is the mom…and here is why….
WHAT WE THINK WE KNOW SO FAR:
1. Her name. Now this is just a theory but it seems to be a pretty strong one. The mother’s name is Tracy…don’t believe me? Season 1 Episode 9, Belly Full of Turkey, at the end of the episode a “burlesque entertainment artist” approaches Ted and says what he did was sweet… She says “I’m Amber”…then says “Actually, I’m Tracy”… then future Ted’s (Bob Saget) voice pops in and says “And that kids is the true story of how I met your mother.”
The kids are blown away surprised. He does say he is kidding…however ponder this if you will…why would the kids even believe it for a moment if their mother’s name was not Tracy?
*Update: Here is some more info on the Tracy Theory.
2. They meet in New York. This is a slight assumption too, however in Lucky Penny he says if he wouldn’t have stayed in New York he would have never met her.
3. The Yellow Umbrella. Season 3 episode 1, Wait for It, Ted says, “Kids, there is more than one story of how I met your mother. You know the short version, the thing with your mom’s yellow umbrella…” So we don’t know much, but we do know there is a yellow umbrella involved (You can thank Captain Obvious for that one).
Also if this is your first time here be sure to check out the How I Met Your Mother Show Reviews for the latest info on “the mother”.
i think they should keep the comedy going and say its mandy moore the one who got him the tramp stamp that will be funny plus the girl haves reddish brown hair and mandy moore had red and brown hair…and they finished telling the mom story because both kids are on disney now and they are real old now so they have already shot the scene where they find out..oh and the bump girl at the st.pattys day party mite be her like every one says because every hint they show its a brunnet with jeans maybe the same girl?oh i just thought of this it can be victoria he cooking thing haves to be done by now right???
I really think it´s the girl he walk into in season 3, ep 12, time 13.24-13.35
Just wait untill the newest episode.. episode 12 of season 5… there will be so much more questions then… i was a nervewrack when i saw that 😉
in Season 5 Episode 12 Girls Vs. Suits ted dates her roommate and it tells us she has a little yellow bus, she paints robots playing sports, she makes breakfast foods sing show tunes, she has a album called the unicorns who will cut our hair when were gone which ted also has, she gave her roommate worlds end by t.c boyle as a birthday gift and ted likes that book and she plays bass guitar in a band and ted says his ideal woman plays bass guitar. ted says in an voice over that he gets a little bit closer to meeting the mother and she got her yellow umbrella back after he left it there (in her apartment) hope i have helped =)
Then what would be the point to the rest of the story? If he met “their” mother, Robin, in season 1 – the rest is insignificant.
yes, but we know that her roomate is the mother, he told it him selfe, and we can see her foot as she walks in to the shower. he says that to… so now we are one step closer to finding out 😉 but it can take a while.. does anybody know how many seasons they have planned to make??
sorry if my english is crappy.. i’m from Norway :p
Sorry Dan, i missunderstood what you wrote.. thought you didnt figgured out that he dates her roomate, so i thought you were a little stupid there.. hehe sorry 😉
*SPOILERS* (for anyone who hasn’t seen the “Girls vs suits” episode)
Another massive clue is that we now know she’s white.
They have to announce the mother at about 2013/2014, because the daughter is 16 in 2030. Probably have they met each other one or maybe more years before that, so they have to meet in 2012, so in two years.
GirlsVS.suits confirms all of this
if its not her then she definately has something to do with it. never in any tv series have i seen something done so blatantly. normally if ted were to walk into someone it would be done maybe slightly out of the shot or their apologies or whatever would be less audible. in this episode however they are center frame and the shot lingers on them. she is definately of significance to the story. oooooor the whole thing that ted was wasted could have made it more obvious to him, where in reality she looked pissed off at him or something. either way i reckon she has some relevance to the story.
he didnt really ‘meet’ her he just bumped into her.
oooh good call, that would be a nice twist
I’m with you Rickard, when I saw this, I just though: “she’s the mom!!”. The mother went to this party because the yellew umbrella was there, so… it’s a hint?
😉
I just want to say to all those wishing that Robin is still the mother or Robin and Ted end up together, girls vs suits disproves all of those. We haven’t met the mother yet so all the EXes are not the mother.
ehm he has been calling robin for aunt robin for allmost 5 seasons now, so why would people still think that?
it cant be any of those things, and the reason i say this is because they have no idea who the mum is, that script hasnt been written, the only thing we know is the actress they have, dont remember who it is. but if they have a new actress then that means we have obviously not seen her yet. Just putting it out there
i have been thinking the same my selfe. that they havent “written” the mom yet, and all these theorys with the girl he once bumped in to, and a girl he looks at a couple of times+++ its just to make the audience curius.. they are just doing it to mess with our head i think..
It is now out that Kelly Rutherford , the mother from gossip girl is the mother!! according to BBC and CNN!! She announced that in a bar in London last weekend, during she was drunk! They are now trying to cover it!
woooow! do you think they will change the skript now?? i just saw it”!
yeah that would be cool 🙂
but what about Barney???
and ted is always like ” kids that how i met YOUR mother ”
but then again like Rishlin said they don’t hav to be his kids
who even said ted had to have a wife for all we know he could
be gay but that would be no fun
not to be rude or anything, but they would hav already writen
the script these writers are smart they hav everthing planed out it’s fool proof.
unless some idiot blurts out who the mother is then there stuffed
but the question is would they change the person or not bother with it.
guess we will hav to just wait and see ..
U
I agree with tahlia rose here i mean, they wouldn’t just put a tv show on
without writing & finishing the script thats just plan fukin dumb*#.la la
Ok, for those of you saying the mother is the ‘bump girl’ from the Saint Paddys Day episode, I think you are WRONG. The episode is about Ted doing things that would normally result badly. About the universe having ‘shifted’. Well what would normally happen if you just bump into a girl at a bar while drunk? She wouldn’t for sure say ‘Oh, that’s ok’ with a smile on her face. But since Ted’s theory of the universe shifting is working at first, she would!!
And I also strongly think that since Ted no way mentions ‘how i met my wife’ only ‘how i met your mother’ that he divorces the kids mother, and goes on to marry Robin. I know of people who call their stepmom or stepdad aunty or uncle, so this is still plausible!
guys let me tell you something…The bump girl from the Saint Paddys Day was also in the class(economic)..I paused the video in the scene that Ted says”Your mother was in that class” and i took a closer look…and it’s the same girl Ted bumped into at that club.
Also coolguy2000…Why would they show us that scene in the club???Don’t u think it’s kind a silly and pointless thing to do???He said the girl with the yellow umbrella was at the same club..He bumped into a girl..I think it is clear!!
ok…I’m about sick of the bump girl theory… it was funny at first but even the show creators have confirmed she was just a red herring in case the show was canceled and (listen closely people) is NOT the mother.
As for the classroom girl that looks similar, in that show the camera is starting to pan over to the mother and never gets there.
yes.. true.. thats the mom.. one whom Ted bumps into @ St. Patrick’s Day celebration jsut before Barney explainin his theory of Knowing a gal’s age from her elbow !! I knew it right away .. she must be the one 🙂 🙂
Does anyone have a link to this “Kelly Rutherford is the mother” story or is it all BS ???
I’m fairly certain it was just a hoax as I have yet to see a concrete article or story saying anything about it.
If I find anything I’ll let you know.
I told dad that it was her!!! I also told my brother her name was Tracey… wow… people have the sma theories as me… *frowns* or I have the same theories as them
me too i m absolutly sure it’s the girl he walk into on st paty’s day i keep telling my self why whould they turn on this part if it was meaningless.
In season 5 episode 1 he says that their mother is in the crowd of the wrong auditory that he entered so that must mean that shes an economist
i havent watch them in detail but i have camera experince ive watch all the episode and because of my knowledge with camera angles when ted is talking to barney at the bar there always background WOMEN walking across in the background they wouldnt do this for no reason usually they would zoom in just to get the actors talking not the whole bar its the kind of thing they do which you will not realise.
Therefore thats why they put all these red herrings in
what about the girl in the first episode he asks out on a date and she is going out with the bar tender.
i do belive in the friends idea because all the charcters are the same marshall and lily are chandler and mon, barney is joey abit simple, ted is ross he knows what he wants but doesnt know how to say it and then robin is rachel she is confused.
Overall when we find out we will go OMG how obvious was that, thats how all these kind of things go. Its the more simple things we dont pick on, not the girl in the bar and all the other stuff its a way to take your mind off the little thing which none of us have picked on
Hey guys 🙂 I live in Ireland and so on the TV it’s only on season 1.
But, In one of the episodes Ted sees the foot of the ‘Kids” mother! She is the roommate of one of his students (I think). He and her were dating but had to break it off because of college rules or something like that , if I’m not mistaken, or maybe it was because they had nothing in common. Anyway, she tells him that everyone falls in love with her roomate, and Ted promises he won’t. He’s pointing out all the things he likes in her apartment and it turns out that all of these things are her roommate’s belongings, and this is when they break it off and as he’s leaving he sees the foot of the roommate as she gets out of the shower and runs by. He tells the kids that that was the first time he saw their mother. She owns a little bus ornament which they have in their house now.
PLEASE comment and tell me if I am wrong lol.
x
oops, it’s not in season one, haha. x
okay i just realised like everything i said was wrong 🙁 hahahaha
I think Robin may be the mother although the kids call her Aunt Robin, We all know kids are not part of Robins plans therefor if she makes the kids believe she is thier Aunt she can still stay in thier lives anonomously
Omg omg omg…
The mother is a student at the same university taht Ted teaches at.
He also dated her room mate 🙂 All taht U’ll get to know @ season 4-5
I don’t agree with this sorry cause at the end of that epasode he tells his kids that your mother was at the same party but we didn’t meet till years later…
I’m sorry i couldn’t read ALL of these but her is my theory if Ted is the Dad but hes divorced to her ! and has anyone considered that the producer haven’t even decided who the mother is !And maybe someone else could have had a yellow umbrella (I’m sorry if any of this has been revealed i haven’t seen all the episodes i watch them on E4) 🙂 Then here is a theory why hes telling the story maybe he snuck in cause he finds out he left something there (it might tell you that near the end or maybe there’s some other reason) Then the Kids met him and he tells them he’s there real dad cause maybe she got re-married at some point ….. Plz don’t leave any mean stuff about this and tell me if i haven’t seen something about the mother that makes whatever i say wrong ! Thx
can someone tell me about this class room girl ? 🙂 😀 😛
Please im waiting for someone to reply !!!!!!!!! Is it one of Barneys Ex’s cause that’s what I’ve Heard !!!!!!!! But its probably wrong if anyone knows TELL ME PLEASE !!!!! I ♥ HIMYM !!!
Dose anyone look at this site |:(
the mother hasn’t been cast but they do know how they will introduce her, from what the creators have said in interviews. And I won’t spend time going back to find the details yet (though after almost 300 comments I think it’s time for a revised post to clear things up) but I’m almost 100% certain you can dismiss the divorce theory. The overall plot is simple and not twisted, he is just telling a VERY long story about how he met their mother.
we never see her… it’s just mentioned she is in the econ class he mistakenly talks to on his first day… he later dates this girls room mate and leaves the yellow umbrella there.
I look on this particular page not too often. In fact I have to delete more comments than I get cause a TON are repeat ideas (I blame me more than others) and for everyone else it’s hard to read through 300 comments before posting their thoughts.
Here are a few things to think about.
1. The Universe in Motion Theory – The Slutty Pumpkin, Bump girl, Yellow Book girl, exiting Mclearans, University girl, and Shower foot can all be tied back to together if the writers choose to do that. People who dispell bump girl on the grounds that writers have dismissed her as a Red herring are falling into a trap. Keep an open mind becuse you’ll be miffed when / if the writers decide to tie her back in.
2. Red herrings – Bump girl theorists should by the same token remain open minded since they can easily dump her theory in a half second. Lets just supposed Stella was at the very same St pats party, We already know she left early perhaps even before Ted got there Whose to say the friend she went to the party with did not also leave early with Stella. The writers so far have done a great job using potential red herrings to confuse everyone. The idea of a red herring is its fake but looks real. They can take these things in either direction Validate and make it try or dump it.
3. Hair color theorists – don’t forget Women change hair color on purpose all the time. When its time for the big reveal they can make her hair color any shade they want and explain away any forshadowed colors as someone that likes to change her hair. That being said a blonde would stand out from Lily and Robin and would be easy to link to her apparent infatuation with the color yellow. (Umbrellas, buses, books, etc.) Don’t get caught up on kids hair colors I know couples with opposite hair colors and the kids hair does not always have to match Mom’s. Plus maybe she bleached it and lives as a blonde but her kids hair does match her true color.
4. I’d like Robin to be the mother of my future kids but she is a character so we know that will never happen. Sadly, it won’t happen for Ted either. You can throw out any theory you want Divorce, Death, Robin marries Ted but they use a Surrogate because robin does not want or can’t have her own kids, etc. Plenty of variant theories can be raised but these kinds of social issues aren’t usually addressed in sit coms unless the show is centered around them to begin with or they are forced to as in (8 simple rules).
Do you remeber when Ted has found the umbrella – in a disco party? He said as narrator “few years later it turned out that your mum was there in this pub” and right after this words a girls bumps into him. He says sorry and they walk away. It has no connection to the plot of the episode whatso ever. So I ve been thinking this must be this dark haired chick – we can even see her face!
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. LOL. You should read the other 14 million posts on this before posting.
So what you’re saying is…you didn’t read the other 400 posts on this thread mentioning the exact same thing. Thanks for adding nothing to the discussion.