Skip to main content

Happy Mother$ Day USA $hoppers$



Will you get your fair share of the $25 billion Americans spend on mother's day this year? Talk about inflation, the expected 2019 increase is expected to be up 8% over last year. Who got even a 4% raise? And our government says inflation is under control!

You might guess it's a big week for flower sales. 1-800-Flowers.com takes in over $71,000,000 in Mother's Day sales! My mother complained about the quality when I ordered flowers online--I don't recall what company I used. She was happier when I got her a plant from a local discount retailer.

Did you plan ahead for a seat at her favorite restaurant? The NRA expects 87,000,000 people to eat at a restaurant for Mother's Day (NRA = National Restaurant Association, I thought I should clear that up).

According to Zillow, nearly 22% of Americans age 23-27 still live with their mothers. I wonder how that's working out.

What about women without children? Hallmark hasn't left them out. At least if they have a pet dog, you can buy a card "from the dog."

When it comes to mother's day spending, it's the third biggest event of the retailer's year--after the Christmas season and back-to-school sales.

My source for lots of the amazing data is James Peltz in the LA Times- see his article for more insights (10 May 2019).

I got my wife tulips-one of her favorite flowers but I couldn't find teal colored ones at my discount retailer. Teal is her favorite color. I did get her a fancy card, but I won't show you in case she reads my blog.

Like many of my age, my mother is gone. I can't help remembering her though. In addition to all the buzz, her birthday was 12 May, which happens to be mother's day this year as it often was in years past. I had a mother for over 60 years, but my wife didn't. I think about that too. It's important to honor those we love while we have them around.

I hope some mother's would be happy if their children or grandchildren paid a visit or made a phone call. Being ignored is probably one of the worst things to do. Still, managing expectations can be challenging when Big Business is out to capitalize on this day of honor.

Oh, if you forgot something, I do have a book to sell. Perhaps you want her to Live Well
Living Well on AMAZON










Comments

Popular posts from this blog

EASTER: VARIATIONS IN BELIEF

Differences in Religious & Spiritual Beliefs Relevant to the Easter Story By Geoffrey W. Sutton, Ph.D. at suttong.com Like most Christians, my wife and I attend an Easter Service. And, a s usual, the media rise to the Spring occasion with Bible stories, comments from various religious leaders and a few atheists—just to keep things balanced. Other religions are on the back burner until Monday. So many statements of beliefs come from the Easter events.  For now, here’s a sample of some core beliefs from various sources. God: 51% believe in God as in the Bible Statista (May, 2023) reported US belief "in God as described in holy scriptures" at 51%. Another 22% reported a belief in a higher power or spirit. Pew researchers from 2021 find 58% believe in God as described in the Bible and another 32% believe in a God or Higher Power.  Belief in God is obviously a core belief. U.S. belief has declined to 58% having no doubt God exists and another 17% have do...

9 Beliefs of Christian Counselors

Updated 26 Feb 2018 What Christian Counselors Believe, Value, and Practice Part I: Beliefs I once asked a conservative evangelical Christian Chaplain how he handled counseling when he was pretty sure a dying patient was not a Christian and, according to his tradition, would soon spend eternity in hell. He sincerely said he would have to think about that question. A female health care provider told me she switched jobs so she could work with children rather than seniors, because she believed that, unlike the elderly, children would go to heaven if they died. In this case, her Christian beliefs appeared to have a cause -effect influence on her career. Counselors normally focus on the needs of clients and help clients find solutions in a supportive setting. Theoretically, rapport ought to be enhanced when counselors and clients share common values and beliefs.  Why ask what Christian Counselors Believe? The primary reason ...

The Turing Test and Chat Psychotherapy 2025

  Where are we now? The Turing Test, originally called the "Imitation Game," is a concept proposed by Alan Turing in 1950 to address the question, "Can machines think?". Instead of trying to define the complex notion of "thinking," Turing suggested a practical test to determine whether a machine could exhibit behavior indistinguishable from that of a human (Vation Ventures.com). How it works Participants: Three individuals participate: The Interrogator (Judge): A human whose goal is to determine which of the other two participants is human and which is a machine. Human Participant: A human who aims to convince the interrogator that they are human. Machine Participant: A computer program that strives to imitate human conversation and responses so effectively that the interrogator cannot reliably distinguish it from the human participant. Communication : All three participants are isolated from each other and communicate solely through a text-based interf...