Family Life

We Asked 190 Moms What They Wanted Most for Mother’s Day {Infographic}

Here’s a fun little experiment we did for Mother’s Day. I asked moms on my Facebook page and in some other Facebook mom groups what they wanted most for Mother’s Day. I was aiming for 100 responses, but I actually ended up with just under 200. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond!

So, what do moms want for Mother’s Day? Here’s how the responses stacked up.

Of those who wanted a tangible gift, the most popular request was for a spa day or spa services. Seems like moms know we need some self-care! Four of you wanted a new baby carrier, three asked for some kind of handmade gift, and three wanted family photos. Only six moms out of 190 asked for what we might consider a traditional Mother’s Day gift: jewelry, flowers, or chocolate.

But by far, most moms asked for things we wouldn’t necessarily consider to be gifts. Things like:

  • “All of the sleep that the kids have stolen from me over the past 5 years.”
  • “Respect from the in laws.”
  • “For my husband to do the things I do everyday, while I play video games like he does!”
  • “My husband home from deployment.”
  • “To see my mom again.”

In fact the most requested “gift” of all for Mother’s Day, with a full 20% of moms putting it on their wishlist, was sleep. So dads, pack up the kids and take them out. Stay out of the house until mom wakes up on her own, in a quiet house. Oh, and do some cleaning up before you go, because no housework was another popular request, up there with spending time with family and time by herself.

What do moms really want for Mother's Day? We asked 190 moms, and this is what they said.

And me? My perfect Mother’s Day goes something like this.

I wake up around 11:00 to a quiet house. No kids shouting, no dog barking. I stretch out lazily in bed, grab my e-reader, and catch up on a little reading. I finally get out of bed at noon because I want to, not because I have to, and wander downstairs. The family picks this exact moment to come home from doing the week’s grocery shopping, and I’m greeted with hugs and kisses from hubby and the girls, along with some fruit crepes and bacon in a clean kitchen.

We eat brunch together, then I laze on the couch with my reader while hubby and the kids play outside. After a couple of hours, I join them in the backyard where my girls are cheerfully playing together, and nobody fights over whose turn it is to hold the play cell phone.

We all go out for a nice dinner at my favourite Thai restaurant, and the girls are so quiet and polite that all the other mothers there give me envious looks. I pretend like this is just business as usual in my family (“What lovely manners they have? Oh, I suppose they do. They’re always like this so I forget sometimes!”) instead of a once in a lifetime miracle. We go home, hubby puts the kids to bed on his own, then we get to snuggle on the couch watching a movie, until it’s bedtime then… fade to black.

Tell me! What’s your ideal Mother’s Day?

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13 Comments

  • I’D LOVE to see my kids on mothers day…that would be the best gift ever…lilke a whole day with each child, get to do whatever we wanted (my daughter and I would go look at stores and eat chinese) My son and I would go fishing all day long til we got a sun burn (he’s a red head)

    Boy do I ever miss them

  • All I wanted was a good night’s sleep and a little bit of peace and quiet. I didn’t get either, but I still had a good Mother’s Day!

    • Same here! Sleep, quiet and no housework would be nice, but it didn’t happen this year. LOL. We had a nice lunch with my mother-in-law, and then a Kentucky Derby party at my sister-in-law’s.

  • How true The best gifts don’t cost a thing. My mother’s day comes every weekend, starting Friday night, when I get to be with my babies and hubby for 60 hours until Monday morning

  • I have a very wise and senior friend who tells her kids (all adults now) that she doesn’t need mothers day, she just needs to be treated well everyday. That’s how we should all be treating our moms (and dads) — everyday is a day to appreciate them.

  • Haha, more sleep does not surprise me at all because that tops my list too!! Same with no gifts!! I really want someone to clean my house though lol!! that would be fabulous!! Happy Mothers Day!!

  • I was hoping for a little respect and appreciation from my teenaged son, and peace between him and his little sister,and a fun day for us all to enjoy eachother. Well I got part of it, we had fun because my father came down to visit and we all went hiking in the woods for some much needed nature peace, but my teenage son was still pretty cocky and no respect from him. I’d love to just have one peaceful day where he doesn’t want to argue about everything lol!

  • just reading this made me smile……………. At 87 my mother has received a lot of different gifts over the years. My mother moved back to her home state 35 yr ago. The only thing she always wanted from me was to spend mothers day with her. So for 35 yrs I drove 600 miles to spend mothers day with her. One year I was there for 1 1/2 days and turned around to drive back home.

  • My boys are nearly men, and while when they were young, I longed for rest and relaxation….. today all I want is to spend time with them. So we went on a hike together. It was incredible.