When we let mothers exhale, "even for a day," Megan Dalla-Camina says we create a culture that values women not just for what they do, but who they are.

Breakfast in bed is a thoughtful sentiment, but for many moms, it’s not much of a reprieve from the weight of responsibility they carry on a daily basis. “The messaging around Mother’s Day does not always speak to the reality of being a mother, the load of invisible labor that motherhood entails does not stop because there is a ‘day,’” says Macall Gordon, a psychologist, professional sleep coach and author of the book Why Won’t You Sleep?! A Game-changing Approach for Exhausted Parents of Nonstop, Super Alert, Big Feeling Kids. “If they get an hour of extra sleep in the morning and a hand-made construction paper card, most moms will call it good and move on with the rest of the mountain of tasks they have to do that day.”

For many moms, Mother's Day is hard to enjoy when they're expected to carry on with their usual tasks.

But as moms increasingly juggle work and parenting, sometimes with inadequate social and financial support, moms are more in need of a break than ever before. According to the U.S. Surgeon General, parents are reporting higher levels of stress compared to other adults than a decade prior. “Right now, in a post-pandemic world still shaped by economic uncertainty, rising caregiving demands, and blurred work-life boundaries—especially for working moms—stress levels are particularly high,” says psychologist Kati Morton, LMFT and author of Are u ok? A Guide to Caring for Your Mental Health and Traumatized. “Research shows that women, especially mothers, report significantly higher rates of emotional exhaustion than before 2020.”

With the line between work and life increasingly blurred, Kati Morton says stress levels among moms are particularly high.

“The mental load, emotional labor and constant multitasking that come with motherhood—especially for those balancing careers,........

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