Post your ideas for Christmas gifts for parents or grandparents!

[HeatherC]

It can be so hard coming up with ideas for gifts for parents and grandparents, so I thought it may help us all if we had some ideas to get started. All ideas welcome!


I will add a few.

1. Amazon Prime Membership. My dad spends hours looking for free shipping on EBay so this will be good. And they can download books and stream Prime Video. They have Netflix but another option will be good for the winter. They re in their late 70’s.

2. Winter coat..got mom one for $16 on BF. It is a lightweight puffer style and won’t weigh her down in the car, etc.. I also got her a cute scarf to go with it.

3. WiFi digital picture frame. for my mother in law. We can send her pics remotely and change them frequently. I think she will like this.

4. Grocery store gift card....lots of seniors would appreciate being able to buy something special or help their budget.

5. Fitbit..we got my mil one for her 80th bday. She loves it!

6. Restaurant gift card

7. Meal kit delivery

8. Calendar with family pictures

9. Basket of special foods...teas, coffees, sweets, nuts, etc

10. Tickets to an upcoming show or movie passes.

Keep the ideas coming!

 

[gillep]

I am not sure the exact name of the item but last year my husband's grandmother received a reaching/gripping tool with a magnet on the end that she has really gotten a lot of use out of as she was having issues bending and reaching for things, and the magnet helps to pick up things like her keys.

 

[HeatherC]

I am not sure the exact name of the item but last year my husband's grandmother received a reaching/gripping tool with a magnet on the end that she has really gotten a lot of use out of as she was having issues bending and reaching for things, and the magnet helps to pick up things like her keys.

That’s a great idea! And it can help someone (like my dad) stop climbing up on a chair to get something.

 

[Searc]

One gift I got my Mom was a Fire stick so she can watch Disney+.

 

[stsomewhere]

I bought my grandparents meat at Sam's club. ( steaks, and pork loin) I portioned it out into meals and froze them. They looked forward to it every year.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Was easy getting gifts for my mother: buy her perfume; send her on a trip somplace; take her out to dinner and/or pay an annual bill or two. Nevah evah buy her an appliance for the house and call it a personal gift. She'd tell you she wasn't a house or married to one. Passed that thought on to my kids since it made good sense to me. Low on funds? Get her the biggest Hallmark card you could afford that said "Dear/Dearest or Beloved Mother", and be sure to write something personal in it. When she moved she took boxes of cards with her and refused to discard them. When I was cleaning out her apartment I found them and kept the ones that seemed special to me.

My paternal grandparents enjoyed Harry and David's Fruit of the Month Club for several years. Also photo albums and new luggage. One year I made an apple kuchen for them every other month for a year. Tried to buy Nana a hat one year but she wasn't having it as my milliner wasn't her style which was classic going to church to outshine her fellow church ladies, LOL. She also thought I paid too much for pocketbooks (and furniture and houses- those two were stuck in a different economic time) so wasn't having a new one added to her collection. So one year I had Papa gather up 2 of her 3 pocketbooks and I took them to a Manhattan shop that reglazed the leather and made repairs to the lining and such. She really liked that gift so much so that I was allowed to take her everyday purse in for the same treatment.

Maternal grandmother was "high maintenance" (and fine with it) so one year older sister and I set up bi-monthly mani/pedis for her complete with a nail polish kit. She liked lingerie as well so was the recipent of quite a few bed jackets and fine cotton nightgowns. As an avid gardener, tools, new seeds and saplings gave her joy as well.

 

[wenrob]

On the grocery card thing I would make sure the senior you buy it for grasps the idea. My sister and I thought it was the greatest gift and my grandma just couldn’t understand why she couldn’t exchange them for cash.

One year for that same grandma I bought her utensils/kitchen gadgets with big grippy handles. She LOVED them and they became her go to kitchen tools since they were so much easier to use.

We stopped exchanging with parents long ago and only bought for “grandmas” but now all our grandmas are gone. With my dad passing last year I realized my stepmother is now “the grandma.” I am thinking of buying her one of those Ember mugs since she drinks coffee all day.

For DH’s Aunt (in her 70s) I bought two Hydroflask 12oz coffee mugs. One for her and one for her sweetheart. They do a lot of VA work and are always on the go.

 

[China Expat]

Everyone loves a Shiatsu foot massager! Best $100 I have ever spent.

 

[Carol_]

Sam’s Club has great gift baskets on par with Harry & David but much less expensive. I like both but if you’re trying to save $$, Sam’s is a great option.

 

[DisLiss]

Local restaurant gift cards---especially places with take-out options. It works well for them to have some on hand if they get home late after an appt., or if they aren't feeling up to cooking, or if they have guests over, etc. My parents really appreciate these for those reasons.

For the last few years we've been giving my MIL a large stocking full of small wrapped gifts. She enjoys that so much, and my kids, who are huge stocking fans themselves, enjoy sitting with her as she unwraps each item. We try to go for things she can use day to day, with a few fun things. Again, store, gas, or restaurant gift cards, postage stamps, office supplies, a book and/or magazine of the type she enjoys, socks, slippers, gloves, etc., pajamas even, if we roll them up tightly before wrapping. Health & beauty items. Items to use on the crafts she enjoys. Sometimes a thing or two for her pets. She likes to hang pictures from the kids, so this year each kid did a piece of artwork and we framed them. The kids often put copies of their school pictures in the stocking, too. Batteries--for her hearing aids, for her remotes, for flashlights, etc. Music CDs, because she hasn't moved on to any other form of listening to music. Last year the kids made her ornaments. We jam pack that thing, let me tell you.

 

[cedricandsophie]

I bought both our grandchildren, one 23, the other 18, an Apple Mac.

 

[Nolcrest]

I'm buying my 91 yr old dad a humidifier and Bomba's compressions socks. My mom is getting pajamas, Bombas socks and Earth Origin Indoor Outdoor Slippers.

 

[smilingmouse]

We are getting my parents asked for a Bread machine (per their request). My MIL is getting a Shipt membership and a few homemade meals she can defrost when she wants a quick dinner

 

[Bianca and Bernard]

DD#1 bought DH a 6 pack of a local beer that is brewed right up the street from her house; she got me a World of Warcraft subscription card, plus the required Christmas card/pictures made and 'signed' by GS#2.

DD#2 bought DH a holder for his lightsaber that he built when he went out for the CM previews of GE (got it on Etsy). IDK what she got me, but it's from Etsy too; most likely something Disney or grandma related, lol.

 

[indimom]

My parents enjoy working on puzzles during the winter months. They take their time, so sometimes the puzzle is filling their dining room table for a week or two. But, they always fussed about what to do with their puzzle when they have family stop in to visit and they want to sit down to eat. Their kitchen bar only seats 3.
I found a website that sells puzzle boards with little pull out drawers. You can sort your pieces into the drawers by color or whatever. But, more importantly, you can pick up the whole board and move it off the table when you need to.
Hopefully they will like this solution to their puzzle problems.

 

[Christine]

My parents are 75 (mom) and dad (81). At least for my mother, she is the least materialistic person I've ever known. She never wants for anything but I hate not having something for her on Christmas morning. So I'm still looking for her.

My dad is happy with anything. He does puzzles, like @indimom noted above, so I just ordered him one off Amazon. I'll end up getting him some wine or beer and that's about it.

I'm reading this thread to see if I can come up with anything for them, but what do you do when they want nor need anything?

 

[HeatherC]

OP again. Another idea is magazine subscriptions if they like to read. I just ordered my mom and dad several magazines through a link on Slickdeals for Discount Mags.

My mom has always enjoyed magazines and I think she will like having them arrive in the mail.

 

[barkley]

mom would arrive at the doctors or hairdressers to read the months old tabloids (her guilty pleasure) so i got her subscriptions to 2. that gift got used more than any other b/c she would read them then pass them around her circle of lady friends who also loved them but were embarrassed to buy them at the store.

 

[mumto3girls]

When DH’s grandma was in a personal care/assisted living facility/nursing home we used to get her gift certificates to the hair salon there to get her hair done. She was on a fixed income and it was something she looked forward to doing.

 

[Hikergirl]

I go with food gifts (love Goldbelly) or experience gifts.