Dear Reader,

Do you struggle to come up with the perfect Mother’s Day gift for your Mom? Or a Mother’s Day gift from your children to their Mom? Do you wonder what exactly a Mom wants for Mother’s Day?

Well, dear Reader, I wondered too. So I undertook to find out for you, just what Moms want for Mother’s Day. At the conclusion of this post you will see the “Official What do Moms REALLY want for Mother’s Day” Graph, followed by a somewhat comical explanation of said graph. These are real answers from real Moms! But first We Craft I will share with you how I came to these conclusions.

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I started out with a basic list of questions that I posted on this blog, my Instagram Account (@butfirstwecraft) and on my personal Facebook page. I got some lovely responses!

1. Does Mother’s day need to be expensive to be special?

Linda G. said, “No, just to have family around.” Lacy S. agreed. She responded, “No way! Just thoughtful.”

2. What have you done to make your Mom feel special on Mother’s Day?

Kate M. said, “I make my mom breakfast every year.”

Judy S. shared “My favourite Mother’s Day memory happened when we were living on a rural property…Our son and family had driven up and hidden their car…When we arrived home from church, they popped up and shouted ‘Happy Mother’s Day!’ A day with family is the best kind of day!”

“We always did a lunch after church. Not very imaginative. She loved it, though,” offered Patti F.

My Mum commented, “One of my favourite Mother’s Day memories was when Jessica was about 14 (I think I was more like 11-fyi). On the Saturday of the Mother’s Day weekend at lunchtime, she told me she was going out with me. She got directions to my favourite Chinese food restaurant. We got in the car and she directed me there! We had a lovely lunch together.”

Marina D. shared, “I did the ‘usual’ kind of things: coupons for different things I would give her, flowers (usually hand picked in nearby forests or backyards), cards, breakfast in bed, etc.

3. What has been done for you to make you feel special on Mother’s Day?

Tandy M. shared that for her birthday or Mother’s Day her husband and children cleaned the house and purchased, prepared and cleaned up the food. “No expense needed, just a real day off work; everyone else doing the chores, planning, etc.”

“The children have always brought me breakfast in bed. Now that most of them are older I also don’t cook or clean. They prepare the meals and do any chores.” Another great memory for Janet was when her oldest son bought and prepared an amazing meal of salmon with grilled vegetables. “He spent so much time making sure it was all made perfectly he didn’t even have time to eat it before he went to work,” Janet P. said.

Elise C. commented that her husband had worked for many years on Mother’s day, so it’s only been in recent years that they could celebrate. “Last year he helped the kids make homemade cards for me. He also made sure I didn’t have to cook that day. We usually try to do something fun as a family in the afternoon.”

“One Mother’s Day my kids, with the help of their dad, made video slideshows in their little voices thanking me for all the things we do together. I still love watching them,” said Melissa V.

4. So what do Moms want?

Here are some responses:

Katie T. said, “sleep in with coffee and a present waiting for me when I wake up! And to skip out on bedtime and have a bath instead.”

“I appreciate a day off thinking about feeding my family! Not cooking is a break!” Melissa added.

Tandy liked what she got on that birthday/Mother’s Day and really wants that again!

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Once I got all these wonderful responses I created a quiz that I shared on my Instagram and Facebook stories. I took those responses and created a graph!

Now, for the moment you’ve all been waiting for:

The Official “What do Moms REALLY want for Mother’s Day” Graph:

73% of Moms want special food for Mother’s Day, 80% wanted Alone Time. 36% want a present and 79 want to spend time with their kids. Flowers were desired by 39% of Moms (including me…are you reading this, husband? Spoiler alert: He doesn’t read my blog.🙄) A resounding 84% of Moms want a tidy house (are we reaching for the moon here?). The highest amount (96%) goes to “Hugs from their Kids” for Mother’s Day, and 82% of Moms want a homemade gift (if you haven’t gotten one yet check out my new Free Printable Personalized Mother’s Day Mug Wrap!).

Isn’t it fascinating that the three things that scored the LOWEST on the graph are the only things that cost money? Just think about that for a moment. You can make the Mom in your life happy without spending a single cent.

One thing of note: I phrased the question, “What do you hope for on Mother’s Day.” But I maybe should have said something about “in a perfect world” because I think some people don’t hope for hugs or time with their kids because their kids are adults and can’t get together because of lockdowns, etc. But also I know that some people just want their alone time, or don’t like to be touched.

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In Conclusion:

It is my opinion, after my hours of research, and listening to Mother’s Day stories, hopes and dreams, that the best course of action is to either do all of the above, or have a conversation with the Mom you’re celebrating and ask her what she’d like for Mother’s Day. Offer these items and see which makes her light up. Maybe she’s a Mom of little ones and just needs. a. break. Maybe you’ve been remiss in visiting and could make the drive to see her (or maybe even a surprise visit like Judy’s family!). Words or appreciation and love are always welcome.

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This is a silly section in which I discuss this graph, the finding of it, and my life long (as proven, yet again, this week) deficiency in mathematics:

Okay, a bit about this graph. First of all, let me tell you that I failed grade 10 advanced math. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate (tell me what I just quoted in the comments below!). I did very well in general math the year after that…perhaps it being my second go round had something to do with it. 🤷‍♀️. What I’m getting at here is that math and I are not chums. We don’t see eye to Pi (see what I did there? 3.14 etc., etc. 🙄 …it’s a math joke.) So, the idea of putting a graph on my blog both excited and terrified me in equal measure (is that measurement in inches or centimeters?). Thus I began my quest: to find a free graph generator that I could understand. I searched, “Free Graph Generator” and I actually thought I’d have success. Alas, I I tried 3 free graph generators that completely baffled me. I even changed my search to, “Easy to use Free Graph Generator” without success. Then, epiphany. Lightning struck my brain (another quote…what is it???). I changed my search to: “Free Graph Generator for kids.” Literally. “For Kids.” Has it come to this? But…Eureka! I found this graph, at the National Centre for Education Statistics, in their KID’S ZONE. 🤦‍♀️. Yes, it has come to this. By the way, I’m a homeschooling mom who TEACHES math. Ha! Ha! Pray for me, people. And pray for my children who may have fallen from the same mathematical tree. Suffice to say this graph was easy to understand, easy to label, easy to input data…look at me using mathy words like “data.” Although, I still don’t understand why there’s a random purple square on the right hand side. Oh, well. Here’s the link so that you can make amazing graphs too: NCES Kid’s Zone.

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I hope I’ve armed you with the tools to make this Mother’s Day a special day for you, and for the Mom or Mother Figure in your life. As Jimmy Durante sang, “Make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy, too.”

Make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy, too.

Jimmy Durante

Happy Mother’s Day!