Have we had a thread about gift ideas for elderly relatives?

[i.love.lucy]

I searched but didn't find anything. I find older people the hardest to buy for.

 

I need some ideas for my elderly MIL, who is 80, and not very active. She doesn't like gadgets. She is c-o-m-p-l-e-t-e-l-y set in her ways that she rejects anything new. She lives alone right now but that will change very soon when we combine households.

 

She reads, but mostly the paper and magazines, so new books are not really a good option. BUT I did get an idea from here some time ago about a memoir about growing up on a farm in the 30's. I will get her that.

 

She does not do any handicrafts. She does not cook. She does not have any desire to change her brands of hand lotion. She does not wear make-up or do her hair or wear perfumes. She has her housecoat style and is not willing to change. I got her a Keurig last year and she hated it. I got her some slippers and she hated them too. She doesn't listen to music. She doesn't watch movies. The main TV shows she likes are her "stories" - daytime soaps. And she watches reruns of The Waltons and Little House on the Prairie.

 

When I say set in her ways, I mean it. Or you might call it *particular* to certain things and unwilling to change or adapt. I'm at a loss for a few small gift ideas!!

 

:confused::glare:

[AK_Mom4]

gift cards to her favorite restaurant. Seriously. So she can go out with her friends (especially if you are all moving in together).

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

:bigear: I'm in the same spot with a few people. They have everything they need and buy whatever they want at any given time. They want gifts with sentiment, of course. The right ones can be hard to come by!

 

For one such family member, I get her lottery tickets and a Starbucks gift card, because I know she won't splurge on those things herself. She loves that. The other two...much harder.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

A subscription to "Soap Opera Digest" !! :D

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

i.l.l., is your MIL Christian? I get the Christian Book catalogs, and the last one had some nice gift-y type things in it. Or there's another one, I'll have to look it up--they had some beautiful things. It might have been Catholic-oriented though.

 

OK, this is going to drive me insane, I can't find that catalog, and I wanted to look there for my grandmother! But anyway, I bought something like this for her years ago, and she loved it so much she cried. Maybe something along these lines?

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ShadowBoxGiftCompany?ref=seller_info

Edited November 12, 2012 by Sweet Morning Air

[ILiveInFlipFlops]

A subscription to "Soap Opera Digest" !! :D

 

Win! :lol:

[fhjmom]

My elderly relatives are very good about always sending cards to friends and family for birthdays, anniversaries, greiving, etc. A few different times I have given them sets of handmade cards and they have always been very well received. Greeting cards can get expensive!

[jar7709]

My grandmother is the worst for this. It has to be thoughtful, but it can't be handmade unless the handmade is like professional-quality, she already has everything, and she grew up in a palazzo in Venice so it's got to have the appearance at least of the upper-crust. She is impossible, in many ways.

 

The thing that I always fall back on is a really nice Shutterfly photo book every year. She likes those, makes her feel like she is more connected with her great-grandkids. And since I've been doing them every year she's got a nice collection going.