dancingmama Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I looked around and didn't see this topic started so here goes... What are you getting your parent/parents for the holidays? I need gift ideas for my parents and I'm out of ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 My dad lives in Florida in the winter and we always send down a big basket from Harry and David filled with snack foods and desserts. My FIL has dementia and enjoys watching old tv shows and movies, so we got him the Time Life dvd collection of Bob Hope Specials. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caroline Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I’m getting my mom The Cooking Gene by Michael Twitty that was recommended to me by Jane in NC. I am getting my DMIL a gift certificate to an evening tasting at a small farm to table restaurant in her toe for her and a friend. She wants to go, but not alone, so we are getting her two tickets so she can take a friend. My sisters and I are going to get my dad ear buds or pods or something so he can listen to music or pod casts or audio books while he walks. He has been taking a four mile walk three days a week while my mom is at exercise class. My older sister is researching these because Dad wears hearing aids, but not while he walks. We need to figure out which ear things will work best for him. (He has nerve damage from working on loud farm equipment when he was growing up.) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aura Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I will either get them gift cards for dinner and movie out or some magazine subscriptions. I have a big family, my parents have a big family and my dh's mom has a big family---I don't have a lot of money that I can put towards individual gifts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TABmom Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 We hired a photographer to take pics of the extended family. Not doing that again, but at least this year is taken care of! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendy not in HI Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Last year I gave my mom a light weight rechargeable vacuum. She hinted around for it, and she has loved it. I sent my dad some Landyager (sp?) jerky. His favorite, plus he also loves the vacuum. I always send a snack basket from Costco or Sams to my in laws. This year I’m thinking of buying a few meals from Hello Fresh or something similar for my parents. I’d also like to frame up some photos from my dd’s wedding this summer (it was held in my parents’ adorable you pick berry farm) maybe a photo book would be better. I will still send some sort of food basket for my husband’s parents. Boring, I know, but they don’t really do Christmas, so I don’t want to go over the top. What I need help with is figuring out how to do Christmas with two married kids and their spouses!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancingmama Posted November 14, 2017 Author Share Posted November 14, 2017 Thanks for all the ideas. We have done the photo shoot in the last two years. Big hit! I've done the food thing. My ILs liked it, my parents were ok with it. I love the gift card true but unfortunately I can't afford something like that. Please keep the ideas coming. After over twenty years of giving them gifts, I'm all out of ideas. Doesn't help we are just not as close as we used to be for a variety of reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 (edited) My mom, I usually give cash. She is poor and can splurge or use it on bills, whatever makes the most sense at the time. My In-laws, a gift basket from Costco or cash in a card to use towards their current vacation (they vacation for months per year). For gifts, a few years back I sent my mom a package with a 'warm theme'. I find it much easier to buy gifts with a theme. A new space heater with a remote control. She was living alone and doesn't want to heat her large house all day, when it is just her. A Fiesta ware coffee cup, flavored coffee Lindt chocolates Chenille robe (she was reminiscing about wanting one like she had when I was young) A few pair of Smartwool socks in various thickness. I also did a summer theme once for mother's day/her birthday. I included an oscillating fan with remote control LOL Cool shirt Drink mixes and glasses Chocolates Salty snacks Not a Christmas gift, but when my mom was caring for my dad before his death, I dropped off a care package. I couldn't be there to help her with the day to day, so I sent her lots of disposable items so she didn't have to do as much clean up, after caring for him all day. She really, truely appreciated the items and the sentiment. She talked about it for years afterwards. Some items were just normal items that were a nicer quality than she usually buys due to finances. There were lots more items but a few were. A new laundry basket which was a better design for her to carry than her current baskets Disposable Washclothes. Thin towels and wash clothes, so she could use more to wash him/cover him after the bath, and not have an entire load of laundry. Chinette paper plates, cups with lids, straws, plastic silverware Lots of single serve snack foods and drinks. Boost type drinks. Chocolates. Wine. Books, magazines, books on tape for him. Good quality paper towels. Nice toilet paper LOL Edited November 14, 2017 by Tap 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsmith Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 We are getting my father-in-law a blood pressure monitor, a case of his favorite wine and the Black Dogs Project calendar. My mother-in-law will be getting new towels to coordinate with her bathroom and some of her hair products and/or a gift certificate to her hairdresser. She spends a lot of money on her hair!! We usually make them up a stocking with fun little odds and ends, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miss Peregrine Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 We always take my mom to a show of some sort. Cirque, touring Broadway show, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali in OR Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 Our parents are at an age where they don't want to amass more stuff. We get them a gift card to a favorite restaurant and usually a book that we enjoyed or think they'll enjoy (books don't count as "stuff"). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmasc Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 My mom, I usually give cash. She is poor and can splurge or use it on bills, whatever makes the most sense at the time. My In-laws, a gift basket from Costco or cash in a card to use towards their current vacation (they vacation for months per year). For gifts, a few years back I sent my mom a package with a 'warm theme'. I find it much easier to buy gifts with a theme. A new space heater with a remote control. She was living alone and doesn't want to heat her large house all day, when it is just her. A Fiesta ware coffee cup, flavored coffee Lindt chocolates Chenille robe (she was reminiscing about wanting one like she had when I was young) A few pair of Smartwool socks in various thickness. I also did a summer theme once for mother's day/her birthday. I included an oscillating fan with remote control LOL Cool shirt Drink mixes and glasses Chocolates Salty snacks Not a Christmas gift, but when my mom was caring for my dad before his death, I dropped off a care package. I couldn't be there to help her with the day to day, so I sent her lots of disposable items so she didn't have to do as much clean up, after caring for him all day. She really, truely appreciated the items and the sentiment. She talked about it for years afterwards. Some items were just normal items that were a nicer quality than she usually buys due to finances. There were lots more items but a few were. A new laundry basket which was a better design for her to carry than her current baskets Disposable Washclothes. Thin towels and wash clothes, so she could use more to wash him/cover him after the bath, and not have an entire load of laundry. Chinette paper plates, cups with lids, straws, plastic silverware Lots of single serve snack foods and drinks. Boost type drinks. Chocolates. Wine. Books, magazines, books on tape for him. Good quality paper towels. Nice toilet paper LOL I just want to say that your gifts sound so incredibly sweet and thoughtful. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 (edited) I have done the Shutterfly Dance - photo books (including ones using materials I gleaned from my time on Ancestry.com - I found enough to make mom a book on the life of her mom and one on her dad and his folks, my dad got a book on his time in the Air Force stationed in Japan during Korean War, etc), calendars with family shots, grandkid-adorned fleece throws, etc. Made mom a photo-adorned pillow for Mother's Day...and turns out she needs one with labels as she is forgetting what name goes with each face :-(. The family-history books have as much typed in text by moi as old photos, and I am not above snitching photos off the internet that fit the time period. Thanks to Google and old censuses I can find the childhood houses and take photos of them as they look now, also there are old surveys of a lot of the country - and Sanborn insurance maps for cities and towns - and you can get images of where an old family farm or neighborhood was to include in a photo book. It is a lot of creative fun, and makes a neat family heirloom. I ignore all the Shutterfly templates and go into Advanced Editing and totally create my own books. Plus watch for offers in your email box...and offers for free photo books often pop up in my snailmail bills from Kohls and others. Helps cut the cost. Last year my sister and sister-in-law shared the cost of one of those electronic photo frames and I filled it with hundreds of shots, both us, grandkids, and old family shots of mom's beloved grandparents, etc. Edited November 14, 2017 by JFSinIL 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparklyUnicorn Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I often get my dad a gift card from the Teaching Company. He likes their stuff. My MIL just tells us what she wants. So that makes it easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 (edited) We gave my inlaws a barn quilt for their barn a couple years ago. We had it done, but you could totally paint it yourself if that’s something your parents or inlaws would enjoy. I usually make my dad toffee and peanut brittle. They are treats he has always liked but never gets. He is very particular about the things he buys for his hobbies and there is no way I would know what he currently wants/needs. He doesn’t watch tv and he likes a very narrow selection of books. Edited November 14, 2017 by Rach 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amber in SJ Posted November 14, 2017 Share Posted November 14, 2017 I gave my IL a fancy photo frame when they were having a couples photo shoot. It remains unfilled & un-hung, behind the door of the spare room where we sleep when we visit. The next year I gave them a multi-picture frame filled with photos of our kids to go on the wall of grandkid photos. It shares space with the unfilled picture frame. Now we get them Home Depot gift cards or restaurant gift cards or movie passes. Amber in SJ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendy not in HI Posted November 15, 2017 Share Posted November 15, 2017 We gave my inlaws a barn quilt for their barn a couple years ago. We had it done, but you could totally paint it yourself if that’s something your parents or inlaws would enjoy. I usually make my dad toffee and peanut brittle. They are treats he has always liked but never gets. He is very particular about the things he buys for his hobbies and there is no way I would know what he currently wants/needs. He doesn’t watch tv and he likes a very narrow selection of books. The barn quilt is a great idea! My parents have a little barn on their property!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.