The best Mother’s Day presents this year are ones money can’t buy
Asleek pair of designer salt and pepper shakers. An electronic gizmo that lets dog-loving moms monitor Fido’s every move. These two items on askmen. com’s list of Mother’s Day presents make easy prey of grown sons, like us, with pathetic gift-buying skills. Before pressing Buy Now, we remember mom doesn’t have a mutt. And she’s cut back on sodium. Disaster averted. Like many guys, we never know how to fete mom. So we talked to the pros — friends who are also mothers — and asked, what do socially conscious moms really want? The discussion inspired some out-of-the-gift-box thinking and big dreaming — way beyond organic pedicures and 100-mile brunches, which are so last year. Here are three gifts Canadian mothers deserve.
Equity in the workplace
Moms are awesome multitaskers who can rock the cradle and the work world. That’s why the findings of a 2014 survey of Canadian women in businesses are so surprising. In the poll by Randstad, more than half of working moms said they are reluctant to move up the ranks because, too often, management doesn’t support their home obligations. (Evidently, the treatment of working women in Mad Men isn’t as old school as we thought.) One new study — by Boston company Quantopian and released on fortune.com in March — shows women who run companies on the Fortune 1000 list bring in three times the returns as S&P 500 businesses led by men. If a dude can invent a gadget that tracks dog movement, surely mankind can figure out how to give working moms the flexibility they require.
Epic appreciation for unpaid work
Psst, dads: while your kids are lovingly crafting macaroni necklaces for mom’s big day, take a tip from Texas father Steve Nelms. This guy wrote a heartfelt blog of gratitude to his stayat-home wife Glorianna. In the post, Nelms calculates the cost of child care, cooking, cleaning, and so on, and figured his wife’s various jobs were worth $73,000 US a year — and he couldn’t afford to shell out that salary. (Not that his wife planned to quit.) The least society can do is say a massive thank you to moms for the vitally important work they do without earning a dime.
More time with teens
You might be thinking: Whoa, what kind of gift is this? But your teens do need you more than they would ever admit. A recent study from the Journal of Marriage and Family shows the more moms actively talk to and do things with their teens, the less likely said teens were to be arrested or act out. Obviously, our suggestions can’t be bought, festooned with bows, or hand-delivered — and thankfully, they have nothing to do with dogs. But doesn’t everyone dream of giving the moms in their lives something that lasts more than a day?