What Mothers Really Want for Mother’s Day

by Fran Carpentier and Sara Brzowsky with Parade.com

Sigmund Freud (the ultimate “mamma’s boy,” some say) once posed the question “What do women want?”, and, decades later, the world still can’t adequately decide. If someone would just ask me, I’d tell him flat out: Women want the essentials. True love. Romance. Kindness. Consideration. World peace. Good shoes -- and a bag to match.

Distinct differences surface, however, when the question is posed about women who also are mothers. Just ask us: “What do mothers want?” We breeders jump at the chance to tell you that we want only to know that our children are healthy and happy. And well fed. And warm in the winter, and dry in the rain. And successful, which basically translates into “educated to the point of being able to support themselves.” (Did I mention “healthy and happy”?)

And once our kids are all grown up and out of the nest, we moms want lots of phone calls and visits. And constant reassurance that our all-grown-up children still are, you got it, healthy and happy.

As for world peace, mothers always want world peace! Then again, if mothers ruled the world, there would be world peace. But that’s a whole other essay.

All of this comparing and contrasting leads me to the question of the hour: What do mothers want for Mother’s Day? Speaking as a woman who’s also a mom (and who realizes how blessed she is to be one!), here’s my wish list:

Love. Kindness. Consideration. For Mother’s Day 2010, I want to know that my husband and son love me deeply and care enough about my feelings to create or buy me something that shows that they put some thought into it. If appropriate, I’d like them to wrap the gift and top it off with a greeting card. Not just any old greeting card, mind you, but one that they read completely and chose mindfully. And I’d feel like I won the Mother’s Day lottery if they purchased one of those sophisticated blank-on-the-inside note-cards, which require the givers to compose their own sentiments. (But I’m not going to hold my breath waiting…)

And aside from world peace, I’d love to have our entire home cleaned for me from top to bottom.

Good shoes, a bag to match, etc. To nurture my womanly nature (or what’s left of it), I’d love a pair of fashionable shoes that don’t pinch, a good shoulder bag that won’t tax my sore neck, relief for my aching muscles. (Massage, anyone?) Let me also not forget that flowers, chocolates, and jewelry always fit.

But here’s the glitch: My “mommy mentality” is something of a kill-joy. I do not want my husband or son to “waste money” on merchandise that I won’t wear or can’t use. I do not want anything expensive. “Expensive” means that they should not have spent more money than I would have for the same merchandise. Did I mention that my code name is “Smart Shopper”? (Isn’t every mother’s ?) Come Mother’s Day, I already know that whether my husband and son present me with a rayon scarf, a silk blouse, or a toaster-oven, I could have found it cheaper myself online or at the mall.

As for my family cooking and serving me a traditional Mother’s Day meal, our son, Ben, is just shy of turning 16. So by now, he and my husband already have done the “let’s -bring-Mommy-Mother’s-Day-breakfast-in-bed” routine for more than a decade. No, at this point in my maternal life, I’d like to be taken out for breakfast or brunch -- nothing fancy or extravagant, a diner will do.

But because I believe that humankind was born partly to shop, here are my specific suggestions for gifts that are sure to warm the heart and rock the world of the moms, grandmas, aunts, sisters and all the other special women in your life who are celebrating Mother’s Day. (I’d be thrilled to receive any one of them!)…

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- Victoria Gloster
www.GlosterGlobal.com