For decades British children have been serving their mothers breakfast in bed on Mother’s Day – but new research has revealed that mums actually prefer a spot of afternoon tea!
It comes as supermarket chain Waitrose reveals search data from their website shows nearly six times more people have been looking for inspiration on Mother’s Day afternoon tea than Mother’s Day breakfast in bed ideas.
They say less than a third of mums actually want breakfast in bed – and more than a fifth have been served food with a bite taken out of it!
Waitrose cake buyer Lauren Mountford said: “The trend started last year. We noticed that searches for Mother’s Day afternoon tea were more popular than breakfast in bed.
“Over Mother’s Day weekend people were buying lots of cakes and cream from us via Deliveroo as they made last minute plans to treat mothers.”
She added: “Afternoon tea is less hazardous than breakfast in bed, which has the potential to end in spilt milk, crumbs between the sheets and tipped over hot cups of tea.”
Last Mother’s Day weekend Waitrose customer orders on Deliveroo saw sales of meringues rise by 4,000% and sales of clotted cream went up 264%.
Victoria sponge sales went up 245%, while sales of lemon drizzle cake were up 265%, mini flapjacks were up 263% and mini chocolate brownies were up 245%.
While most mums still think breakfast in bed is a nice treat, a poll of 1,000 mothers with children aged between five and 18 years, commissioned by Waitrose, found that 40% would rather be served breakfast at a table.
Less than one third (29%) said they would prefer to have breakfast served to them in bed, and 4% said they wouldn’t want to have breakfast made for them by their children.
A quarter of mums said their kids watch them eat their breakfast, and 22% said their children get stuck in and eat it too.
Sometimes the little ones miss the mark, though.
More than a fifth of mums said they have been presented with food with bites taken out, while 20% had been given sweets for breakfast, and others said they had been offered toy food!
14% said they smiled their way through the inedible or unidentifiable food.
When mums were asked about the strangest things they’d been brought for breakfast in bed, answers included: “cucumber” and “a single After Eight chocolate”.
What do you think – would you prefer breakfast in bed or afternoon tea? Let us know in the comments!