She will smile through the “But when is Men’s Day?” comments, as though the other 364 days of the year are not already dedicated to men. She will lovingly clean the kitchen after the father and child tornado created during surprise breakfast preparations.
She will genuinely adore the fluffy slippers you bought her, while quietly ignoring the salon spa treatment pamphlets she strategically left lying around the house. Mothers truly appreciate any form of effort and recognition. This comes from a mum whose grown son once wrapped one of her own belongings in kitchen towels after forgetting a special occasion entirely.
But what do mothers really want?
To venture down that rabbit hole, a few mothers of human, feline and canine children were asked, some by Dealerfloor, what accessories they would really love to have in their cars. Considering how much time mums spend in their vehicles doing school runs, sports trips, vet visits, shopping errands, doctor appointments and sitting in traffic, it is only natural that they would develop a rather specific wish list.
Right at the top was a mute function. Many mums wanted a soundproof glass divider between the front and rear seats. It has to be glass, because they still need to see what the little angels are up to, they just do not want to hear it. Some even suggested a dimming feature for occasions when they no longer wish to see the chaos either.
A few mothers went further and asked for dividers between the children themselves. While technology already exists to flash rude messages at other drivers, most mums agreed that the real battles happen inside the vehicle. This led to suggestions of robotic arms capable of delivering disciplinary slaps to the back seat. One slightly alarming request involved electric shock rear seats, which somehow made the idea of ejecting buttons seem perfectly reasonable.
Comfort ranked highly too. Stress relieving neck massagers, self-replenishing snack fridges and built in wine bars, quickly corrected to coffee bars, all made the list. Some mums also wished for an app that compliments you the moment you sit down in the car. Considering the average school run, that may actually be essential technology.
There were requests for self-cleaning and self-organising systems, including a search function capable of locating whatever has disappeared into the dark abyss beneath the seats. Parents also dreamed of a warning system that detects incoming slobber, vomit or any suspicious wet substance before instantly deploying a catch tray to avoid catastrophe.
More advanced technology also featured prominently. Some mums wanted tyres that automatically check and inflate themselves, while others wished cars could simply float over potholes altogether. There were calls for buttons that transform vehicles into hail proof machines or even flotation devices during severe weather and flooding.
The requests from other parts of the world were perhaps the strangest of all. One mum specifically asked for a “banana drop”, while others wanted a stink bomb button, a fart horn and even an invisibility switch. One can only imagine the temptation.
Another wonderfully relatable idea was a steering wheel that dispenses tissues at the first sign of tears forming. After all, many mothers admit that their cars become the only private space where they can cry in peace.
Strangely, not one woman requested a hands free make up kit, despite that being one of the first suggestions raised by a man. Instead, many mums focused on practical features such as lights that automatically switch on when the windscreen wipers are activated, additional parking sensors, fold away cupholders, more storage compartments and dashcams, possibly more for recording the inside of the car than the outside.
Most of these features already exist in expensive vehicles. Mothers, however, would simply like to see them appear in more affordable cars too.