What Mom really wants

If you give Mom a card for Mother's Day next Sunday, beware. Underneath the smiles and thank-yous may lie a hankering for a gift certificate.

A national study by the New York-based research organization Berrier Associates shows more women (40 percent) prefer gift certificates over any other kind of present - no matter the holiday. The types of gift certificates women want most:

Despite the yearning for new clothes, research from Hallmark Cards still lists (surprise) cards as the top Mother's Day gift, followed by flowers and plants. The company predicts some 144 million greeting cards will be given this year.

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