• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, May 10, 2018

New York-based ad agency Merkley + Partners puts out a trend of the week piece and this week’s edition offers some interesting thoughts on moms and Mother’s Day, which is this Sunday.

What really caught my eye were some comments cited in the piece from Busy Philips, a busy mom with 1 million Instagram followers who dispenses advice and shares many of her mom-related experiences.

This year, she has proposed dispensing with the traditional Mother’s Day brunch and formed a partnership with Allswell to create a movement to do just that ( #banthebrunch).

Why? Well, for one thing it’s a pain in the you-know-what because she ends up planning it most of the time and how much fun is that if have to plan a celebration that’s allegedly in your honor?

What moms really want to do is stay home and chill, sleep late and basically have some me time. Allswell did a survey of 1,000 moms who basically feel the same way. Two-thirds said they’d rather have breakfast in bed than get dressed up and go to brunch.

But nearly half admitted to feeling guilty about telling their families that that’s what they’d rather do—punt on the fancy brunch and just relax.

Guilty? Well that’s certainly not right. Moms should be able to spend the day doing what they want to do.

I hear you, Busy. I feel exactly the same way about Father’s Day, which, God forbid, should be about me having a little goof-off time. But nooooooo. Some idiot relative inevitably throws a barbecue that we have to schlep to and then bake for hours in the early summer sun while munching on overdone burgers and dogs, all the while pretending to have a good time.

The problem is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day aren’t really about celebrating Moms and Dads. They’re more about celebrating families. Kinda like Thanksgiving, but on a smaller scale. Thankfully.

Which is why moms and dads put up with all the BS even on their special days. Families are about compromise and giving. And giving some more. And then compromising some more.

Anyway back to the Merkley piece, which sums up: “Modern moms are opening up about their own experiences and struggles. They expect to be treated as the complex, unique individuals they are, and they're not afraid to talk about it. How can your brand provide a platform for moms to speak up or participate in the conversation?”

And should we do brunch or just give Mom what she really wants, a day of rest?