03May
2011

A Guide to Winning Mom Back on Mother’s Day

By in Events, People, Shopping Experiences • 3 comments

HappyMother'sDay If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you know that my mom is pretty unhappy with me. Between missed visits home and wrongly interpreted Facebook status updates (she is now convinced that she actually is the last person to know anything about my life), I’ve got some serious explaining to do.

Rather than have that awkward conversation, I’ve decided to woo my mom this Mother’s Day. Flowers are not going to cut it, and I’m not even sure that home-baked cookies will have an impact. It’s time to pull out the big guns.

And retail is coming to my rescue. Hooray! A recent survey by Toluna, sponsored by Buy.com, found that 23 percent of moms prefer a spa day, followed by 20 percent who desire gift cards. In fact, 38 percent of moms over age 55 want a gift card for Mother’s Day (I’m pretty sure it’s the mom control factor on this one – no one can get her as good of a gift as she can!), followed by 25 percent who wanted a new computer. Whoa, easy ma!

My mom is 52, but somehow I think she would side with the 55 and older crowd. A spa gift card might be nice, but I know she will wants more practicality than that. A gift card to Bed, Bath and Beyond perhaps?

Here are some other findings from the survey that are helping me craft my “win mom back” Mother’s Day:

  • Flowers are the “least desired” gift.
  • 32 percent of moms rank going out to dinner as an ideal way to spend Mother’s Day.
  • 30 percent prefer spending time with family at home (Order in Chinese? Pizza?).
  • 17 percent of moms enjoy “something homemade” for a gift 
  • Online search is the No. 1 way to decide on what to give.

Thanks to this survey and some online searching, I think I have come up with the perfect Mother’s Day extravaganza that will make her forget (at least momentarily) about any of my perceived wrongdoings. How about you? How will you honor your mom this Mother’s Day? Let us know about it here!

-Heather Strang

*Photo by: Derek Harper [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

3 Comments

  1. Dear Heather,

    You mother is younger than me! E gads!

    Here is the way to win your mother’s heart back. Take it from a pro! Go directly to a great paper store, buy an empty scrapbook

    Fill the pages up with…

    • One of your best poems (something teary)
    • A personal remembrance about you mother
    • A baby picture of you mother and one of you
    • Write out one of your mom’s favorite recipes
    • A photo of the most beautiful bride…your mother
    • A page of “momisms” funny and insightful things your mom says
    • Your mom has been a mother for 52 years, write a list of 52 things you mother taught you, silly things and serious things
    • Find a postcard image online from your mother home town
    • If you have a religious mom, find a Madonna & Child painting and a prayer
    • Look up online what famous people were born o your mother’s birthday, then make a list of all the people you’re glad aren’t your mother
    • Make a secret page and glue on old envelope to it with a fancy card inside that has “a secret just for you” and tell your mom something like “I never told you how proud I am of you.”
    • If your mom likes gardening include a packet of seeds, if she likes van Gogh, print out “A Starry Night”.
    • Go to http://www.quoteforaday.com or http://www.zaineybrainy.com and find a great mom quote and calligrapher it

    Now get to work, make your mother have a good cry!

    Reply

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