'Children are the anchors of a mother's life.'
England was, in the eyes of his colonies at least, maternal.
The man would deny it furiously, with maybe an insult or two if it was brought up by a certain frog, but he had a side to him that was soft, sweet, and solely reserved for those little colonies who would wail or cry for him, or equally, come toddling up to him, wanting to play or sit on his lap. To everyone else, he was a former empire with all of an empire's sass and fire, lacking only in the ability to cook, making up for it by being extra grumpy and unapproachable. Spain especially could account for the 'fire' part. (He never did get over the armada incident, to put it lightly). He was rude and brash, more often than not found pounding someone's face in (France) or chasing after someone to pound their face in (Prussia, Italy...). But when the curtains fell, and he was alone, he was entirely different.
He would fuss endlessly over Australia's many cuts from being an animal handler; he would scold Hong Kong for carrying (and setting off) one too many fireworks; he would smooth back Canada's hair with a kiss to the forehead, apologising for forgetting him. Little Wy was subject to his hair brushing, which was often awful and corrected by France a minute later. Peter, no matter how many times he called England a 'jerk' would happily soak up the attention of the older nation when he could spare it - and he was always darning their socks, or patching their clothes, or giving them new handkerchiefs he had made. America had got mad when he had patched up his ripped jeans, not realising that was the style, but the gesture was gentle, loving, maternal.
In truth, these were the things that made England, England. There was Pirate England, Punk England, Gentleman England - but all circulated back to a single England - mother England. If there were tears, he was bound to be there. If there was hurt, he was there. If there were fights, he'd break them up. No matter what his form, he would always come back to his anchor, his grounding base of caring, loving.
In the eyes of said colonies, he was the best, if a bit clumsy, mother they could ask for.