Due to the pandemic, you’ll have fewer opportunities to meet in person on this coming Mother’s Day, but you can express your emotions and gratitude to your mother with a phone call. According to psychologist Annamária Tari, quality conversations rather than routine chatting can help a lot in this situation: “In the year of COVID, counselling has been the most valuable advice given by psychologists. ‘I listen to you and you listen to me’. This mutuality relieves anxiety, mitigates stress and helps you step outside the boundaries of your own life while you are focusing on someone else. And if you are a good listener, you’ll get the same in return.”
Phone conversations can help you do just that: in its latest Hungarian survey, Telenor wanted to find out[1] how people keep in touch with their mothers. Based on the result, phone calls are still one of the most common methods of communication in a mother-child relationship. One in three respondents call their mother the most often. 89% call their mother by phone or an alternative call-based application once a week, while 44% talk on a daily basis. Annamária Tari, however, believes that most mothers probably want even more conversations. “It doesn’t mean that they are dependent on their child. What it means is that a mother’s love doesn’t change easily. In the current pandemic situation, everybody should feel being loved. This is the mental state that can help you overcome any difficulty in life. In that, you may need your mother even as an adult and she also needs you.”
The survey revealed that people usually make short calls to their mother. Most respondents (81%) talk for less than 30 minutes. They usually discuss their life events, everyday issues (79%), other family members (74%). Health (71%) and asking for help or advice (71%) are also popular topics. A survey conducted by Telenor earlier[2] showed that two in three women below 35 turn to their mother when they need support or have a problem to solve. In such cases, most of them take the advice given by their mother.
“Listening to her can be the greatest gift of all”
Annamária Tari says it is high time to change the routine, ask more questions and have more quality conversations. “Mother’s Day is a special day when you can slow down and initiate longer conversations focusing on your mother. You can ask her to talk about things she hasn’t told you before. Not because they are a secret, but only because you never had the time. Listening to your mother can be the greatest gift you can give especially now when you need mutual emotional support more than ever. Even if you are not a child any more.”
This year, Telenor also helps you to have deeper conversations. For Mother’s Day, it gives all prepaid and postpaid consumers and customers with a Telenor employee tariff 60 minutes of free domestic airtime so that they can call their mothers or the most important person in their lives. The discount can be activated in the MyTelenor app between 26 April and 2 May[3] and it can be used on any network. Telenor also gives 60 minutes to its employees for Mother’s Day. On 30 April, Friday, Telenor employees can finish work one hour earlier to spend more time with their loved ones – either in person or over the phone.
[1] The survey was conducted using the platform of Ipsos Instant Research on a sample of 840 internet users aged 18 to 55, between 16 and 21 April 2021.
[2] The survey was conducted using the platform of Ipsos Instant Research on a sample of 840 women aged 18 to 65, between 24 February and 1 March 2021.
[3] More details in the MyTelenor app and on Telenor’s Facebook Page.