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Thank youForget the Choccies and the Flowers
A thank you will suffice…

Did you know that Mothers Day is, in Australia, the second biggest day for the retail industry after Christmas? It's become such a total commercial enterprise, that you'd be forgiven for thinking that the spirit of Mothers Day was all but gone.

However, forget the chocolates, cancel the chrysanthemums and don't worry about a card.  Australian mums say a simple ‘thank you' is the best gift they could have received on Mother's Day.

Procter & Gamble (P&G), makers of family brands like Gillette, Pantene, Oral-B and Vicks, recently ran a survey into our attitude to gratitude, as part of their P&G Thank You Mum campaign that honours the mums of the London 2012 Olympians. They survey found that we don't need to spend a lot to please our mums - simple words of thanks are more than enough, with Australian mums, preferring a few words over flowers, clothing, jewellery, restaurant meals, help around the house or even holidays.

Did You Get A Thank You This Mothers Day?

According to the survey we're a slack bunch in the thanks department.  A whopping 20% of Aussies could not even remember the last time they thanked their mum and only 13% thank their mum daily.

What the survey found:
  • Australian respondents are most likely to express their gratitude to their mum just once a week.  Despite this, 77% agree that their mum has made many sacrifices for them and 78% say they have a close relationship with their mum.
  • It seems we have good intentions though: 68% of Australian respondents think mums deserve to be thanked every day.  It's just that we don't seem to get around to it.
  • Half of Australian respondents reported giving mum ‘something she likes' such as flowers, new clothes or jewelery as the best thing for Mother's Day, but only 22% of mums said they actually wanted to receive this. 
  • Of the respondents who are mums, 69% said being a mum makes them appreciate what their own mum did for them more now as a result.
  • Mums deserve our thanks: 63% of those respondents who are mums say that it is difficult to be a mum. The number one sacrifice they say they have made in being a mum is not being able to buy things for themselves, followed by no longer being able to choose holiday destinations they would personally prefer to go to.  A lack of social life was a sacrifice made by 47% of mums.
According to celebrity mum of two Rachael Beck, a simple thank you can make all the difference.  "I agree with those surveyed as part of the P&G Attitude to Gratitude study.  Being a mum is tough, especially if you're juggling work and family life. As mums we care for our children without any expectations. But a little thank you and a sweet smile makes it all worthwhile".


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