Moms, supermodels want break on Mother's Day

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, jewelers and florists go into overdrive for the day of the year that honors 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 jewelry 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.

An annual Mom Salary survey by online wage and staff group Salary.com Inc. found the time mothers spend on the 10 most popular "mom job functions" would equate to annual pay of $116,805 for a stay-at-home mother and $68,405 for a working mother.

The job titles which best matched a mother's definition of her work were housekeeper, day care center teacher, cook, laundry machine operator, computer operator, psychologist, facilities manager, van driver, chief executive officer and janitor.

The primary driver of mothers' six-figure salary was the amount of overtime worked, which averaged 54.4 hours a week.

According to the Salary.com survey, stay-at-home moms work a 94.4 hour "work week" while working moms reported an average 54.6 hour "mom work week" on top of their paying jobs.

Crawford said she had finally found the answer to how to balance her work and home life -- say no.

"My New Year's Resolution every year is to say no," said Crawford, who has a home furnishings range and skincare range as well as a career in modeling.

"The key for me is being organized, having priorities and also saying 'no' sometimes. I can't do everything that I am asked. I always knew I wanted to have kids and I knew what kind of mom I wanted to be and I make sure that I am."

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)