Help!! Gift ideas for elderly Mom and Dad ...

[EdiePA]

Okay, what do I buy my Mom and Dad for Christmas?? Their only hobbies are golf and watching tennis on TV! I've run out of ideas -- done the polar fleece, grandson's college sweatshirts, etc.

I'm a single mom with two sons in college -- so money is an issue. I thought about gift certificates to their favorite places to eat out, but that could get pricey!

Any ideas??

Edie

 

[Deb & Bill]

Movie dollars??? Our Cinemark (Tinseltown) sells coupon books that can be used for refreshments or movie tickets.

Calendar with promises to call on certain dates????

Gift certificates to their pro shop or Edwin Watts?

 

[pumba]

and don't NEED ANY MORE STUFF.........how about going to the store and getting them 24 rolls of toilet tissue.......nose tissue.....paper plates....paper napkins.....paper towels.....canned goods.....non perishable items......stamps and envelopes.......I am thinking of getting this for my mother......she is 89 and has enough stuff and fitting her with clothes is near impossible........

 

[princessariel]

<SIZE=3>I'm planning on getting my Mom & Dad a gift certificate to the grocery store they go to. (they can always use that)

But in past years I've gotten restaurant certificates, fruit baskets, chocolates and cookies I've baked. A couple years ago I crocheted them an afghan. It's hard because they live in a small apartment now and don't need much. And if they do need something they buy it for themselves.</SIZE>

 

[WDWLVR]

A few ideas I've done for my DH's elderly grandparents have been:

Personalized calendars with everyones birthdays, anniveraries etc. on it and a different family photo on every page.

Personalized gift bags with family photos on the front and filled with home made fudge and candies.

An apron made with family photos ironed on.

Recently I also picked up small 10-page scrapbooks and did different ones for his grandmother and two aunts with old family photos. They loved them.

Other ideas - gift certificiates to the grocery store they shop at, a nearby movie theatre, or a favorite resturant.

Or maybe some home made coupons for things like a trip to the zoo with you, or a lunch date. You get the idea.

I think something all people want as they get a little older is less material things and more attention.

 

[KathyFP]

I do the picture frame witha picture of them and their granddaughter.

I have did the coupon book - one for a cooked dinner, snow shovelled, wall washing or other task that maybe can't do as well as they used to.

 

[CEDmom]

I read about this neat idea for an elderly relative who may have trouble getting out. Buy an assortment of birthday and other holiday cards as well as some blank ones and a few books of stamps.

 

[nativetxn]

I don't know how much "free" time you might have but how about a coupon book for spending time with just them? Or even one parent at a time.

Coupon good for one trip to the doctor, one trip to the grocery store, one movie just you and one of them? Lunch out your treat . You could pick one treat a month that you can afford and time you can afford and devote it to just them?

My mother is in a nursing home right now and doesn't want more "stuff" she is too ill to go out, too. I don't know what I'm going to give her but I'm thinking her own comforter and flannel sheets that I will launder. What do you think?

 

[piratesmate]

My parents used to get the local paper delivered for my grandfather every year. He always enjoyed that.

One of my favorite things was the book I put together for my grandmother one year. It wasn't really as "all out" as scrapbooking is now, but I made an album with some of my favorite pix of Gram with us. Just a few, but from the time we were really small up through the present. Then I jotted short notes about those memories & put them on the same pages with the pix. Some pages I only put slips of paper with memories written.

Even though Gram didn't need any more "stuff" around her apartment at that time, she always kept that book nearby so that she could re-live those memories.

 

[DJGifford]

I have an idea...many people buy scented wax dipped bears...elderly people don't like to burn candles...they smell really pretty...wait, maybe they aren't elderly, lol....They are nice in places that you can't burn a candle...bathroom, desk, office etc.

I actually make these myself and probably shouldn't be mentioning that here...but hey you asked for ideas, lol.

 

[Bon Bon]

How about a gift certificate for Merry Maids? They can get expensive on an on-going basis, but maybe pay for spring cleaning?

For my Daddy, who is 63 and has EVERYTHING twice over, it's not the gift that matters, it's the thought. I took old family pics of my brother and I, scanned them probably 6 or 8 to a page, printed them out and used it for wrapping paper. He LOVED that!

Do they have a DVD player? Do you have a CD burner? If so to both of these, maybe you could take some still photos and/or video clips, add music and make a special movie for them on your computer and burn it onto a CD? I'm learning how to use Windows Movie Maker right now, doing something similar, and it's really neat! Not only does it show you've taken time and thought, but they will have something very, very special to last a lifetime and it's takes barely any storage space.

Best of luck!

Bon Bon

 

[whirlsy]

gift certificate to the place they golf at or a place they always wanted to try golfing at. Golf balls and matching golf shirts.