80 presents for 80th birthday...help!

[tessiegirl]

My nan is shortly turning 80 and I wanted to try and come up with 80 presents for her
Is it possible?!
Presents can be small and cheap to some which can be more expensive...
Can anyone please help with ideas?

Bluebell's list of utter tat would absolutely destroy my mum. And me, for that matter.

I can't get over insoles and shoe laces

Most 80 year older lived through the war. They would feel the waste of 80 presents acutely. And then they'd have to find the space for 80 more things in their house/flat.
Why not a flower subscription service? Fresh flowers once a month, so nice.

"I wouldn't want an afternoon tea or a big family gathering. I would find them boring. I would much rather have 80 nice little gifts of things I enjoy and get pleasure from. None of it would be 'tat' or 'random' because in my family no one ever buys things like that. Why would we?"

Don't you think it's pretty unusual that you'd prefer 8 mini fudges to spending time having lunch/a get together/afternoon tea/drinks with your loved ones on your 80th birthday?

You've repeatedly called other people "boring", said how you'd find their nice ways to spend time together "boring", yet got your knickers in a right old twist about people suggesting 8 mini fudges might look like tat amongst 72 other equally tiny "gifts".

At my age now I just want to spend time with the people I love. At 80...well, much of the same and it'll be even better.

8 bottles of bubble bath was one of your suggestions wasn't it @Ilovemaisie?

Seriously? Imagine it being your 80th birthday and unwrapping your present to find that!

Much as my 80yo mum would probably love a bath, she can't get on and out if it now.

It's her 81st birthday in a week or so. I think I'll buy her 81 bottles of bubble bath.

Last year, her 80th, I sent her flowers and a small cake, although I was there with her. My sister sent flowers. My brother did nothing.

I arranged a zoom call with family.

For practical items
Nightie.
Stockings
Slippers
Tights
Food items?
Choc
Biscuits.
Cupcakes
Afternoon tea
Drink?
Nice preserves
Random bits?
Toiletries.
Handcreams
Perfum

Photo album of her life

Scrap book of pictures from. Grandkids, great grandkids?

I did this for my dad when he was 80. Years before he had said that he had everything he needed in life and if we really wanted to buy him gifts could we please only buy consumables. So I bought things he needed for his hobby - tiny pots of enamel paints, paintbrushes, and lots of things in multipacks so that he had 80 things, handkerchiefs, pairs of socks, bars of chocolate, cans of Coke, batteries, blank cd's, his favourite biscuits. There was nothing wasted and I did what he wanted and only bought consumables.

Sweets from an old fashioned sweet shop /online. Like ones she'd of had when younger.
Sugar mice etc

The thing about those 80 presents, I mean if I had Bluebell as a daughter and she presented me with them, my natural impulse, after weeping and wondering what planet-destroying-kind of soulless person I'd raised, would be to take them to the nearest charity shop. But OPs grandmother is housebound. So she can't. Nor can she bin them or put them in a box out the front with a Help Yourself label. They've been given by close family. They can't vanish. She'll have to either use them for ever or keep them forever.
It is a truly horrible, horrible present.
Think again.

denver I happen to love bubble bath. That's one of my things. I don't like wine or gin which is often a common suggested gift on here. I like bubbles in my bath. Shock horror.
I never said I wouldn't want to spend time with my family - I just wouldn't want to go to afternoon tea or a meal out or even have a fancy meal at home.
Not my thing. I wouldn't enjoy it.

Listener pretty much everything I suggested is things that would get used up and be gone within weeks. I would only buy things I know would get used.
I wouldn't be insulted if books were passed on afterwards. That's the joy of books. You can easily pass them on.

We did this for MIL. She LOVED it. She always likes lots of little presents rather than one big one. We gave her all sorts of things from a new keyring with pics of her great-grandchildren to a lovely new coat. We wrapped them all individually, numbered them all with labels and set them out on tables in the garden. She was totally blown away.
She still talks about it and shows people the list of gifts!

denver infact at Christmas I had to buy my own supply of bath and shower gel because of covid there was no family get together and they are too heavy to post. I got a selection in rainbow colours because my daughter likes rainbows. I also bought various limited edition chocolate bars and crisps etc. It was great fun to get. Me and my daughter had silly chocolate and crisp tasting sessions. My daughter (age 12) wrote silly reviews of them to email my sister.
It was fun. It was nice. That's the sort of thing I enjoy doing.
Obviously I don't know the OPs Nan and what she likes but this thread asked for ideas. I have done that. Rather than be snobby about the idea.

"That's the joy of books. You can easily pass them on."

Unless you're shielding and 80 years old.

"I like bubbles in my bath. Shock horror."

Yeah, me too sometimes. No shock horror needed. But like you, I'm not in my 80s. Doubt she gets many (if any) baths anymore, certainly not enough to warrant 8 bottles of the stuff!

Does she have a garden. Get her 80 small plants and plant them for her instead.

denver I would probably give my mother in law shower gel because she just has a shower. My mum still uses a bath so she would get bubblebath. 8 bottles isn't exactly going to clutter up the bathroom.
And as for 8 paperbacks - again not going to take up massive amount of space until the time comes to pass them on. Presumably she can give the books to the OP when finished to pass them on of she still can't get out and about.

@LoosingTheChristmasBattle

I did something similar for my mum but rather than 70 presents, I did 70 memories. I asked her friends and family to write down their favourite memories and put them all in envelopes, she had such a lovely time opening them all and re-living the memories, she still goes through the bundle now.

That is such a lovely idea. It can even be old photos as well, providing it’s not too painful to look at them. You can get a nice memory box or a vintage mini suitcase or something suitable to put them all in as well. Maybe also send a delivery of her favourite flowers?

@Loveisthehope

See the 20 marbles, that would be one present in my mind, cheating! 🤣

Yes, a bag of marbles is one item, otherwise you could buy a pack of cards and call it 52. You can’t play marbles with one marble, you can’t play play bridge with one card.

"8 bottles isn't exactly going to clutter up the bathroom.

As if that's going to be your first concern when you open up that as a celebration of 8 decades alive

Honestly.

@BluntlySpoken

For practical items Nightie. Stockings Slippers Tights Food items? Choc Biscuits. Cupcakes Afternoon tea Drink? Nice preserves Random bits? Toiletries. Handcreams Perfum

Photo album of her life

Scrap book of pictures from. Grandkids, great grandkids?

Stockings and tights? They'll get stuffed in the drawer along with the insoles and shoelaces

denver look you clearly don't like the idea. I think it's nice. This thread was for ideas and suggestions. I have given some. Why would receiving 8 of something that you really like be a 'concern' ?
I suggested bubblebath because it's something I like but it could be 8 of anything - it's all about what the gift receiver likes. I don't know the Nan in question on the thread and her tastes so I can't make specific suggestions. I just gave a suggestion of a concept. I don't know why you seem to have taken such a personal hatred towards me as you don't know me.
I think you are being very rude.

I hate greed,landfill and the pervasive assumption that Stuff equals Love.

randomer yes stuff doesn't equal love but things that bring a person joy and pleasure equal love.

@Ilovemaisie

randomer yes stuff doesn't equal love but things that bring a person joy and pleasure equal love.

But about 90% of people on this thread have said that things bring annoyance and stress etc not joy and pleasure.

And as people are rarely anything other than politely thankful for a gift, even when they hate it, even if you think someone loved receiving a gift, it could quite likely be the opposite.