So what do you really want for Mother’s Day?
My list is all over the place -- A mani-pedi? A marathon of chick flicks? Happy hour with my girlfriends? – but there’s one consistent element: For just this day (beyond some hugs, kisses, and a Starbucks coffee run in the morning), the extended company of my dear kids and husband is not required, nor desired. And I’ll take some peace with my quiet, thank you very much.
The need for a little personal R & R for moms on Mother’s Day – whether it’s taking a day off from chores or even spending time away -- seems to be a common craving. A recent survey from the Mom Complex, a marketing-to- mothers think tank, reports moms aren’t feeling the love: 30 percent of moms say they typically get honored for no more than five to 10 minutes while 40 percent feel their husband and children come first on Mother’s Day.
And 57 percent say what they really want is time off from housework.
Rookiemoms.com co-founder Heather Gibbs Flett recently shared a video where she asked guest bloggers what they longed for on the holiday. Her own wish?
"I want to get away from the 3Ds: diapers discipline and dishes. For one day I want everyone to be nice to me and I don’t have to do any of the yucky stuff that’s associated with being a mom.”
Catherine Connors, who blogs at Her Bad Mother, said she doesn’t want just one day (Mother’s Day) of sleeping in and having her partner do the morning routine. She’d like the whole week.
And for blogger Heather Spohr, a dream day involves lying on her couch and watching “the 87 hours of TV I have on my DVR and nap when I want to and eat without having to share my food.”
It’s not that we don’t love you, hubbies and kiddies. It's just that we’d love to finally watch the Royal Wedding rather than go spend time at the park. We'd like to read a book and not be interrupted by, "Mom, can I have a snack?" We don’t want breakfast in bed because doesn't that mean we’ll ultimately have to do the dishes? (One mom I talked to said her breakfast dishes stayed in the sink for five days past Mother’s Day, because she refused to clean them!)
Posting the “What do you really want?” query on Facebook resulted in similar responses from solitude-starved mamas.
Kathy Bushouse Burstein of Delray Beach, FL, wrote:
"I want seven consecutive hours sleep, and someone else to change the baby's diapers. Or some time alone."
Angela Connor, a mother of two daughters in Holly Springs, N.C., posted:
"I just want some time to hear what's inside my own head. A long bubbly bath with a few glasses of Pinot Grigio and no one barging in asking me if I'm almost done so I can play Go Fish!"
For Laurie Gibbs of Snoqualmie, Wash., the request is simple:
“All I want is silence. Is that asking too much?”
Tell us -- what do you really want for Mother’s Day?