What are you getting your GRANDPARENTS for Christmas?

threecrazykids

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Feb 6, 2007
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I didn't see a thread yet for Grandparents so I thought I would get one going! What are some go to ideas, or new things you are looking at buying for your Grandparents?

I typically get my one Grandma a gift certificate to her favorite fabric store for her quilting supplies and my other Grandma I typically buy a gift certificate for a day at the spa.

And of course, the obligatory framed picture of our kids/family, that is one thing they love getting every year.

I really would like some different ideas this year - mix it up and get something they aren't expecting.
 
We usually do candles or something like that. Also we take them out to dinner.
 
I'm not sure what type of lifestyle your grandparents live, but mine used to love spending time together watching movies. One year I got them a good movie (The Notebook, I believe) along with a "movie" basket. I found one in Boscov's (not sure if you have one by you). It had popcorn, candies, etc. in it all in a popcorn tub wrapped up. They LOVED it.

Last year, I got my grandfather a blanket (he is cold all the time) and personalized it saying "we love you, love always Cathi and Bryan" putting mine and my brothers names on it. He used it every day.
 
Both DH & I grandpa's are deceased but our kiddos actually have 3 paw-paws (divorce) any who here is the final shopping list.

Grandpa#1: $100 Gift card to Outback Steakhouse (his favorite chain restaurant) and a new cowboy hat. (My dad)

Grandpa#2: $100 iTunes gift card he's somewhat of a techie and is always streaming or downloading or editing something on his iPad or iPhone (care to guess what he got last year?) and
some new cuff links.(DH dad)

Grandpa#3: $100 GC to Ruby Tuesday (his fave) $100 to Fandango. Big movie buff he has to be the first person to see it. A new Snap fish photo book of us from 2013 happenings. (DH Bio- dad)
 

For my grandmother I try to get her something different every year, but she is 90 and its getting hard to not do something I've already done.
My favorite was a basket of "upscale" household items that she would never buy herself. I filled it with hand towels, a memory foam mat and hand soap for her bathroom, kitchen linens and dish soap, sachets for her drawers, velvet hangers, a heat wrap that you microwave, and a bunch of other stuff I can't remember.
Its been a few years so maybe I'll do another one.

When dh's one grandmother was alive, her favorite thing we gave her was a huge box of assorted greeting/holiday cards and a roll of stamps. She was very practical. She was so excited to be saved a lot of trips to Hallmark :rotfl:

For dh's grandparents we usually get a GC to the grocery store. His grandmother died this past year so I'll do the same for his grandfather. We gave them a digital frame one year and filled it with pics of past and present that they really liked.
 
I only have my grandmother left and she is in a nursing home. I will give her a photo of my children blown up so she can sort of see it and donate a sheep or goat in her name to OxFam America.

ETA: When she was in better shape I would give her the photo and a gift card to Wal-Mart.
 
We send a godiva chocolate gift basket. They both love sweets and they have just about everything you could possibly imagine already, so it works out well.
 
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I send Christmas flowers and buy them through the United or American Airlines sites so they are 30 miles per $1. I sent two bouquets and I get 5k miles:flower3:
 
Well, in our situation, my grandparents are all gone and DH never knew his, but the kids need to buy for their grandparents. None of them have any true "need" so for DMIL we set a budget and the kids go to the grocery store and buy a bunch of non-perishables (oatmeal, peanut butter, soup) and we donate it to the local food pantry in DMIL's honor (we usually include a note to the food pantry). Before we donate it I take a photo of the kids with the "haul" and include that in a nice handwritten note from the kids and send it along in DMIL's Christmas card ( we don't always see her right at Christmas).

For my parents the kids usually like to give something that they picked out themselves.... often a small tree ornament or something they have made. This year we may also make a donation to ACS or the like, since both of my parents are now cancer survivors. ..........................P
 
Grandparents are all long gone, but my mother is 83 years old, so I'll just consider this a "What are you getting your ELDERLY RELATIVES" thread :rotfl2:

My mother is getting a printout of her family tree that I've been researching for months for her, plus a copy of all the best documents and stories I found along the way. If I get wild and crazy, I might throw in a bottle of wine. Otherwise, she has everything else she needs or wants - she has dementia and other issues, so anything else I get will just be forgotten by the 26th.

But really, the best gift I can give her is a few days with her granddaughter, which she will also get - we always make the cross-county trip to visit my mother at Christmas (and usually once or twice a year otherwise too). I bought the plane tickets when they first went on sale in January ;)
 
I only have one grandparent left, my 79 year old grandma. She doesn't need knicknacks,slippers or candy. This sounds silly, but I bought her a years supply of Viva paper towel. I noticed she was using some awful cheap stuff that would barely soak or wipe up anything; but it was probably what she could afford. Everyone thought it was weird, but a few months ago she told me it was the best gift she had received. This year we are chipping in and paying for some of her fuel oil. I know she will feel a bit funny about it, but her finances are so tight we don't want her to worry about it.
 
Depends on how OLD the grandparents ARE! Heck that could be from late 30s to 100s!!:rotfl:

My grandparents are LONG gone but I live with my elderly uncle who is 74 and autistic. He literally asked us for jeans and a HurryCane! :rotfl2: It sure beats the "dirty movies" he asked for in PUBLIC a few years back! :scared1:
 
My kids got my mom Vera Bradley stuff: gardening tote with matching gloves and hat, tote, little hipster for traveling :)
 
I always get my grandparents a calendar made with family pictures from Shutterfly. They LOVE it.
 
A lot depends on how old your grandparents are (some as young as 40, some as old as 105). Unfortunately, I lost my last grandparent nearly 45 years ago when i was 12. DH lost his last grandparent about 15 years ago. But we buy for our elderly parents (his parents are in their mid to late '70s, and my Dad will be 84 a week before Christmas).

I don't know what we're giving his Dad yet, but I'm pretty sure we're giving his Mom a few bottles of wine. For my Dad, I'll get him a bunch of scratch off lottery tickets and a gift card to Barnes and Noble.

One present I bought for an elderly relative. About 15 years ago, my uncle (now deceased) was in the early to mid stages of Alzheimers. He was still fairly coherent. However, he couldn't fiddle with the dial on the radio. His two favorite stations (one broadcasting Cincinnati Reds games, and the other broadcasting Big Band music0 were on opposite ends of the dial.

So I got him an alarm clock radio with presets. Two of the presets were earmarked for WLW (Cincinnati Reds) and WCKY (then the "Music of Your Life.")

Somehow or another, the alarm was set. More than once, i got a phone call from his nursing home at the middle of the night asking me to turn off the alarm on the radio. (Actually. he could have pulled the plug, but...)

A radio with presets is great for an elderly relative. And I think some of them are not alarm clock radios.
 
I always get my grandparents a calendar made with family pictures from Shutterfly. They LOVE it.

I give this to my parents and send one to my brother. I did it from Snapfish this year because they offered 24 miles per $1 spent. It came out really nice with pics for bdays and such.
 
Looking for suggestions for my own father who is in his late 70s. His mother is my only surviving grandparent and she is well into her 90s. I used to get her a Walgreen's giftcard which excited her to no end. Then I used to get her fruit. But last year my aunt (who takes care of her) asked that we only send her a nice card that she couldn't eat the fruit any more and didn't want anything material. I made sure to include a recent photo which made her happy. I'll do that again this year.
I plan on getting Dad an Ihop gift card as my parents are super fond of that restaurant (they even eat Thanksgiving there). But ideas for an older retired man who doesn't play golf or fish and lives in Florida are hard to come by!
 
We're getting weekly trash pick-up service for my grandmother - it's not pretty, but it's practical, she won't get it for herself, and she'll really like it. ;)
 
I'm a grandmother and would love a gift certificate or two for pedicures. :) I love to get them but have a hard time spending money on myself.
 
This winter i will give my grand parents winter shawls as they both love them. I looking for couple of them at some affordable price. I hope i will manage to buy them on Black Friday so before Christmas they can have them.
 

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