Moms, supermodels down, want break on Mother's Day

By Belinda Goldsmith

SYDNEY (Reuters Life!) - Like millions of mothers, supermodel Cindy Crawford is looking forward to breakfast in bed on Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day, then walking on the beach.

For while department stores, jewellers and florists go into overdrive for the day of the year that honours mothers, all that most mothers want is a day free of chores and responsibilities.

A survey by Zogby International found the No. 1 most desired gift on Mother's Day -- celebrated in the United States and Australia on Sunday but different days elsewhere -- is a card followed closely by "a day of no chores or responsibilities."

A chore-free day, chosen by 16 percent of respondents, outranked the choice of jewellery by five to one in the poll conducted for U.S. cable channel Lifetime Networks.

"The majority of mothers don't want, need or expect anything from their kids on Mother's Day or would be satisfied with a simple 'Thank you'," said the pollsters in a statement.

American supermodel Crawford, 42, who has two children with her second husband, entrepreneur Rande Gerber -- eight-year-old Presley and six-year-old Kaia -- said her favourite way to spend Mother's Day was to hang out with her family.

"I'll get breakfast in bed. My mother-in-law is visiting so we will do something fun and have a family day," she told Reuters in a telephone interview. "We live right on the beach."

The Zogby poll of 800 women in the United States found the majority of women -- 95 percent -- indicated they often make sacrifices for their family, with 55 percent of working mothers finding it difficult to balance being a mum with their job.