Many Mums Crave Time Out On Mother's Day - Survey

 It may be a day dedicated to celebrating mothers, yet on Mother’s Day many women want nothing more than to spend time away from their children, according to an online survey.

The informal survey*, conducted by online gift plant company Give Plants, asked 127 mothers how much time they wanted to spend with their kids this Sunday.

It found that nearly a third (29.5%) of the women who voted in the survey wanted to spend part, if not all, of the day doing what they want, without their children in tow.

Of those women, 23% were keen to have a sleep in, followed by breakfast in bed, and then spend half of Mother’s Day away from the family. The other 6.5% wanted to spend the entire day away from their families, doing whatever they wanted.

The majority of women, however, wanted to spend the day with their kids – but they wanted a break from the everyday. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed (64%) said they wanted to spend the whole day with their kids and family, but wanted everyone else to do the running around.

Just 6.5% of those women surveyed wanted to treat Mother’s Day like any other day.
Auckland mother-of-two Carolyn Snell says her ideal Mother’s Day would be to wake up with breakfast in bed, followed by a morning with the kids and a few hours to herself in the afternoon.

“My best memory of Mother’s Day was pretty much that - my boys, with the help of their father, booked me in for a massage. Not only did I get to spend some time out from the madness, but it was such a lovely treat too,” she says.

Psychologist Sara Chatwin says because many women are so busy, often juggling work and motherhood, it’s understandable that they crave time to themselves every now and then.

“I’m a great proponent of women having time out for themselves because they’re often overloaded by life generally,” she says.

“Mother’s Day is certainly an occasion where women can take that time because it’s their day, but it’s also a good opportunity for families to indulge their mums and make it an occasion that’s all about them.”

Chatwin also suggest that women get together on Mother’s Day and spend time celebrating their own role as mothers while also thanking their mothers.

Give Plants director Jerrod Griffith says simple yet thoughtful gifts will also impress mums throughout New Zealand this Mother’s Day.

“In my experience women love to be given beautiful plants instead of cut flowers – after all, a well-cared for plant will give back day after day, year after year, yet flowers are generally well past their prime 10 days later and have to be thrown out,” he says.

“A live plant chosen to reflect the interests of the recipient, such as a lemon or lime tree for someone who loves cooking, also reflects that you’ve put a lot of thought into the gift, and we all know how much mums love a gift that’s got both love and thought behind it.”

For more information, visit www.giveplants.co.nz.


* The Give Plants Mother’s Day Survey was conducted on Give Plants’ Facebook page.