The $20 Billion Dollar Day That We Call Mother's Day

Tomorrow is Mother's Day, which means that you will probably spend the morning toiling in the kitchen making a scrumptious breakfast and serving it to her along with some flowers, chocolates or even jewelry. While your mother will probably thank you profusely so will, the U.S. Government!

That's because believe it or not, all the little and not so little gifts, flowers etc. that we will bestow upon this special woman will add an astounding $20 Billion USD to the economy. At least that's what experts from the National Retail Federation are estimating Americans will spend this year. If that sounds like a large number, it is - Mother's Day is the fourth overall biggest spending day in the country, lagging just a tad behind Christmas, Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day.

So what is most of the money being spent on? Flowers will take about $2.7 billion, which is more than the amount spent on Valentine's day, because of the obvious reason - Everyone has a mother! About $2.9 billion will be spent at the jeweler's while an astounding $2.8 billion will go towards that brunch, cruise or that special trip mum always wanted to take.

According to industry research firm IBIS Group other big winners will include gift cards ($1.8 billion), clothing ($1.5billion) and personal services like massages, manicures etc. ($1.32 billion). They believe that electronics (mom already has all the 'i's' she can handle), cards (electronic cards are so much faster and greener), housewares and gardening (mom wants something fun) and books & CD's ( have them on smart gadget) will see a decline. However, even those categories will collectively pull in about $2.8 billion - Not too shabby we think!

All this commercialization was probably last thing Philadelphia resident Anna Jarvis had in mind, when in 1905, she took an oath by her mother's grave site to fulfill her one lifelong wish - Establish a day where mothers would be honored and recognized. So determined was Anna to make this happen that in 1907, she quit her full-time teaching job and embarked on a campaign to convince lawmakers to set aside a special day to honor mothers. In 1914, Congress finally relented and declared the second Sunday of May, Mother's Day - And a brand new retail opportunity was born!

Though they may and probably are thrilled at your thoughtfulness, all most mothers really want is a break from boring chores like cleaning, doing laundry, dishes and cooking. So instead of blowing your entire year's allowance on this one day, you should maybe consider giving her the gift of taking on one of these mundane chores. It will save you some dough and thrill your favorite woman to bits - A win-win for all!

Happy Mother's Day!