What do you think is the most important thing for your children? Do you take them to lessons and practices, or is it the smile and hug you greet them with after school? If you guessed the latter, you are correct.

Twelve years of teaching and giving the same homework every Mother’s Day have led me to the exact same conclusion. You see, every Mother’s Day I would ask my students for advice on how to be a mother. They were to think of the things their mother or guardian did for or with them that made them feel happy or loved. The classroom would fall silent as the students intensely wrote for longer than they had written before. Smiles often appeared on their faces as they reflected on the happy experiences they were remembering. After reading your responses I would add all the ideas you mentioned to my list. Surprisingly, many of the responses were the same. Year after year, in every country I taught in, and across every type of demographic, students were saying the same things and carrying the same message: It’s the little things their mothers did that meant the most and they remembered.

Many moms today feel that they are not a good mother unless they are running, taking their children from lesson to practice and back to lesson again. I have had mothers tell me that they want to give their children all the opportunities that they did not get. While this thought may bring some comfort to the mother, she doesn’t really do the same for her son, who is feeling potentially overloaded, stressed, and tired.

After endlessly talking about this topic with my students, it became clear to me that today’s children are involved in too many activities and, in turn, are less and less in touch with themselves and their families. Also, my students told me that they really wish they had more time to “just play.” Of course, many of them enjoy their extracurricular activities, but it is not necessary, they said, to be able to do everything. What they enjoyed the most and what made their hearts happy was when their mothers did simple things for them or with them.

Here’s a list of the top ten things students around the world said they remembered and loved most about their mothers.

1. He comes to my room at night, tucks me in and sings me a song. She also tells me stories from when she was little.
2. Give me hugs and kisses and sit down and talk to me in private.
3. Spend quality time with me alone, not with my brothers and sisters around.
4. Give me nutritious food so that I can grow healthy.
5. At dinner let’s talk about what we could do together over the weekend.
6. At night talk to me about anything; love, school, family, etc.
7. Let me play outside a lot.
8. Cuddle up under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9. Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
10. Leave special messages on my desk or lunch bag.

Children are incredibly wise and tend to see the world more simply than we do. Maybe it’s time we started following his advice. Maybe we’d all feel a little less stressed and be satisfied with the fact that doing little things really is… good enough.