RICHMOND, Va.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Mom Complex (TMC), a Richmond, VA-based consultancy, polled its mom network about the realities of Mother’s Day. According to research the company has conducted with over 10,000 mothers in the past five years, self-doubt is the number one emotion all mothers have in common. And Mother’s Day is a great opportunity for the people around her to help alleviate that doubt.
In the weeks before Mother’s Day, families are bombarded with lists—best gifts, most affordable gifts, latest and greatest gifts. But before you head to the store with your credit card, it’s important to understand that the number one thing all mothers want for Mother’s Day is simply to feel like they’re doing a good job.
“Save the big presents for Christmas and her birthday; the best present you can give her is to convince her she’s doing a great job as a mother,” said Katherine Wintsch, The Mom Complex CEO and Founder.
When asked what they want for Mother’s Day, mothers are famous for saying things like, “I don’t need anything,” “Please don’t go out of your way.” But that’s not because they don’t want anything, it’s because what they really want is so hard to ask for. How do you tell someone the number one gift you want is to be told you’re a good mom?
When pressed to say what they really want for Mother’s Day, here is a sampling of what moms told The Mom Complex:
- Tell her she’s not alone. Most mothers feel as though they’re the only ones struggling to keep it all together. In Wintsch’s TEDx talk, she gives mothers exactly what they need on Mother’s Day...to finally feel like they are enough.
- Show her it’s not just another day. Since Mother’s Day falls on a Sunday, preparations for the week ahead can quickly make it feel like just another day. If you want to make her feel like she’s doing a good job, take over her job for the day. Soccer matches, birthday parties, bedtime...all of it.
- Don’t buy something. Make something. In the time it takes you to get in the car and drive to the store for a card, you could write her a letter with the five things you love most about her. And the latter is what she really wants anyway. You save time. She gets what she wants. Everyone wins.
- Take the other mothers off her shopping list. Most mothers spend hours planning the perfect Mother’s Day experience for their own mother/grandmother/mother-in-law. Instead of letting her spend hours planning the perfect experience and worrying if she’s done enough, tell her you’ll handle the planning for all the other mothers in her life.
About The Mom Complex
The Mom Complex has collected over 30,000 pain and passion points from over 10,000 mothers since it launched in 2010. Katherine Wintsch, Founder and CEO, is a mother of two children, and a blogger for The Huffington Post and Working Mother. In addition to writing and speaking about motherhood, such as in this TEDx talk, Katherine and her team consult with Fortune 500 companies to help them better understand their mom customers and connect with their mom employees. Follow The Mom Complex on Twitter @themomcomplex and on Facebook.
