DotComGiftShop's 2010 Mother's Day Survey

All mums want for Mother’s Day is a hug (and don’t bother with the chocolates and flowers) 

According to a DotComGiftShop survey of over 200 mothers, the one thing above all others that mums want on Mother’s Day is a loving hug. 

Choosing from a list of traditional Mother’s Day presents and gestures, 52% per cent of mums indicated that they’d most like to receive ‘a cuddle’, making it the most popular choice by far. Equally staggering was that ‘chocolates’ didn’t receive a solitary first-choice vote. 

Although not nearly as popular as a hug, ‘a card’ was the second favourite on the list, with 26% of the vote, followed by ‘a personally chosen unusual gift’ with 10%, and ‘lots of attention’ with 9%. 

Like chocolates, though, ‘flowers’ proved less popular than you might imagine, finishing well down the list with just 2% of the votes, just behind ‘breakfast in bed’ with 3%. 

And further evidence of the unpopularity of flowers was backed up in another part of the survey where mums were asked to describe the worst Mother’s Day presents they had ever been given: ‘Last minute flowers from the corner shop and no card’, ‘petrol station flowers’ and ‘garage forecourt flowers’ were among the notable entries with a floral theme. 

But looking at some of the other ‘worst presents’ from the survey, you have to wonder what was going through the minds of the people who thought their mums would be pleased with ‘a plastic bird feeder’, ‘a wheelbarrow’, ‘a fluffy duster’ and ‘an old rusty bicycle’. 

But one conclusion that really stands out from the survey is that it really is the thought that counts. One mum sums it up perfectly by saying: “Being a mum I am very pleased to receive anything, especially a cuddle - the worst would be if they dared to forget!” 

Here are the full results for the first-choice gifts from the survey: 

52% A cuddle  

26% A card 

10% A personally chosen unusual gift 

9% Lots of attention 

8% Weekend away 

3% Breakfast in bed 

3% Dinner in a restaurant 

2% Home-made dinner 

2% Flowers 

0% Chocolates

For those wanting to back up their hugs with something more material, DotComGiftShop has a wide range of Mother’s Day gifts online.