45 Comments
May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

All I want is the whole day to myself. To not have to feed children, set up a full meal for others, host guests, and clean up after others.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I want to sleep late, prepare no food, and respond to every question, "I dunno. Go ask your dad."

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I’d like to have the whole day to go out by myself and not have to worry about getting back by a certain time. It’s too bad Mother’s Day is on a Sunday because things close earlier, which imposes its own time constraints. But my free time is usually so circumscribed, it’s annoying.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I don't do Mother's Day -- my family didn't when I was growing up and I've never seen a reason to start -- but yet it's still always complicated. My mother-in-law lives a mile away and she *would* like to do Mother's Day, so I'm like, great, your son should absolutely take you out for a nice meal. But she wants me to participate, like I'm somehow sacrificing myself by not going. And 1) if he takes the kid, I get time alone which is a great gift, and 2) if he doesn't take the kid, I'm still not stuck at a long meal with my young child and MIL. (My kid is great in restaurants, actually, because we are completely shameless about giving him a phone to watch YouTube on until the food arrives and after he is done eating, but he's still one more thing to think about -- does this special-occasion restaurant have something he wants to eat? Is he about to get hangry? Etc.) So I'd be happy to have a totally normal day, but if someone is going to do something for me, it should be to take my kid and MIL out without me, but my MIL gets worked up about how this is somehow not fair to me, and it's a whole thing.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I want a massage and to not have to make any decisions. We are good at collaborating I just want a pass on that for a day.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

Just aiming to improve on last year when the entire family had COVID…and to drink a cup of tea in peace.

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I want a day where no one talks to me or touches me. For the first time I’ve booked myself a night in a hotel 45 mins away from home on Mother’s Day. They have soaking pools and I’m so excited to just go and enjoy some quiet time.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I want to sleep in, have someone else make breakfast and then get 2 hours to read my own book. I don’t care if there are children climbing on me, I just want to be able to tell them someone else will help while I absorb some needed fiction.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I want to be dropped off at a nearby spa that has this day long treatment that involves being scrubbed, wrapped, oiled, and massaged. I would add on a shampoo, haircut, manicure and pedicure. And a delicious lunch with a large icy herbal mocktail type drink. Then driven home. My partner would take exquisite care of all the things my toddler needs as I spend the rest of the day lounging around our home with an invisibilty cloak around me so I can do as I please without being seen.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

Sleeping in would be nice. So would not making household decisions or cooking meals. I love time to myself but it’s less about time alone and more about the freedom to only think about my own worries and needs rather than that of my whole household.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I want the holiday to disappear. But, if I must choose something, I want a massive and robust gun buyback program. People get paid, guns get melted, children get safer.

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Mother's Day is weird for me because it's two weeks after my birthday (and Father's Day is two weeks after my husband's birthday) so I always feel like, oh I've had ENOUGH FUSS. (This year, I especially feel that way!!) I also hate the emptiness of a holiday celebrating us with brunch and bubble baths in lieu of paid family leave and all the other social supports. And I want time for us to sit in coffee shops and write novels (or in my case, putter endlessly in the garden) to be built into our family life EVERY weekend, not just on a random holiday. And yet -- it often feels pretty flat when my family LISTENS to me saying "oh let's skip it" and actually skips it or doesn't do much more than a card. In conclusion, MEH.

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May 4, 2023·edited May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

For the entire Mother's Day weekend, I do not think about anyone else's food.

I do not plan the menus.

I do not buy the groceries.

I do not provide the snacks.

I do not decide on the desserts.

I most certainly do not cook.

I do not choose the restaurant. If I am taken to a restaurant, I will happily select only my own food from the menu.

My husband and I generally have a healthy balance of mental load and household tasks, but in this phase of our life with young children this is one area that we both find draining and it ended up on my list during our most recent re-division of responsibilities. Getting to completely offload it for 48 hours is a wonderful mental break and a reminder to my family of how much work is involved in this area day-to-day.

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I really don’t care about Mother’s Day for myself, but I feel obligated to do something for my mom. This year, she may be out of town so a text or call should work.

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May 4, 2023·edited May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I would like to not feel obligated to call my own mother (or guilty about not doing so).

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May 4, 2023Liked by Melinda Wenner Moyer

I want a night in a hotel. A bed all to myself, a shower in peace and room service. And no answering any questions. Specially of the "Where is my..." kind.

And I want all the guns in America gone so I can actually sleep in peace.

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