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?

@Ilovemaisie.

You sound like a total clutterbug. Each to their own, eh? But it's clear you're in the minority.

True story. My mum bought my dad 80 bottles of cheap whisky (which was her own dad’s favourite) for his 80th birthday. I groaned as I wondered why she hadn’t just bought him one nice one. He died two years later having only drunk half of it.

Absolutely true.

Barbara have you never heard of communication? Back in the car boot days my sister would frequently text me "they have so and so do you need that one?" or I might be in a charity shop and I call my mum to ask "they have the latest x book have you read it yet?".
I am confused you said 'token' gift because I thought that came under the Mumsnet rule of 'unwanted tat'.
VanGogh my flat isn't nearly as cluttered I would like it to become due to lack of space so unfortunately some of my collections aren't as big as I would love them to be. My flat is interesting though and pretty much anyone who comes in the first thing they say is " wow that's an impressive collection of X".

40 bottles in 2 years is 20 bottles a year or less than half a bottle a week. Say 300 ml a week or one a day double 6 days a week. If that's the only alcohol he drinks, it's under the recommended weekly limit.

That's remarkable discipline when faced with 80 bottles of whisky.

But I agree that instead of 80 bottles of standard whisky, which would have cost around a grand, she could have got him a case of very good whisky, or one bottle that was absolutely spectacular .

For my nan's 80th ( and 90th) birthdays we did a special trip out , her choice of trip which she loved and had time being made a fuss of with family and friends, she still had some presents and a cake but it was the 'day' she enjoyed and talked about

Back in the car boot days my sister would frequently text me "they have so and so do you need that one?" or I might be in a charity shop and I call my mum to ask "they have the latest x book have you read it yet?"

But not for presents. If a relative was at a car boot sale and phoned me to say 'I've just seen this thing that I want to get you for your birthday' that would be just weird.

Token I mean consumable, so a bottle of wine or gin, a box of chocs, cheese truckle or similar, depending on what the person likes. One thing, £5-20. Not a massive pile of stuff and not an expensive thing that has to be specified so that it's right.

80:
Candles
Balloons
Photos in an albums
But done give her 80 gifts. It’s a nice sentiment but it’s a bit overkill I think.

80 presents will quite possibly end up being 75 things she doesnt want and 5 she does. With potentially 80 lots of wrapping paper in landfill etc. A few much cherished and wished for items would be so much better.

Gave up on reading the whole thread because people are so negative.

I think done by someone who knows you well something like this can be a lot of fun.

When we did 50 for the golden wedding for my grandparents we did some useful things like
A can of each of their favourite drinks
A multipack of each of their favourite snack (obvs wrapped his and hers separately to up the count)
Favourite treat toiletries
Socks

As well as some bigger, more frivolous or fun things

8 presents might be nice
(I would be horrified to receive a truck load of bits and bobs).

And 80 photos of her with loved ones

We did 8 presents for MIL's 80th, some were "useful" like an umbrella, also concert ticket, framed photo of family etc. Even that was quite hard work and ended up with "token" presents.

FIL had his 80th a couple of years later and dreaded the same thing so much he asked for Strictly no presents whatsoever.

It's hard to imagine when you are young, that you get to a stage in life where so much clutter and so many smellies/candles/chocolates have passed through your life, you dread being given things you don't need or want .

Barbara I would have zero problem with a birthday gift coming from a car boot sale. It actually shows the person who has bought it knows me well and it's the type of thing I like. That would not be weird in my world. That would be an awesome thing.
Yes this thread is so negative....sigh.

I did something similar for a 40th Anniversary. Got 40 red things. That was really hard.
I would suggest things like food that would be used up would be a good idea. Then double up on them. So if she likes chocolate get a few bars. Sweets get a few different packs
Nice Tissues. If lots are things are useable she won't end up with lots of stuff but with lots of things she can eat or use up.
Perfume, toiletries, good stuff, drinks.

Also most of the stuff I collect isn't expensive. Can often be bought for a couple of quid so no family members are being forced to spend loads. I am probably one of the cheapest family member to buy for

"Interesting" 🤣

I've just remembered, my mum asked me I'd like a years worth of flowers for my birthday. I said no, because I already have a fortnightly flower subscription.

It's my birthday in just a few weeks, a week after my mum's. I'll get her an afternoon tea box as my brother and his wife will be there just before her birthday so I'll treat all of hem (even though my brother hates me).
She will complain to me that she didn't want it because she's trying to diet.

Nice Tissues

What does that mean? How are some tissues nicer than others? Aren't tissues just tissues? Isn't buying something so utilitarian a bit joyless? How about "nice sanitary ware"? (Or incontinence pads at this age)

@Ilovemaisie

Barbara I would have zero problem with a birthday gift coming from a car boot sale. It actually shows the person who has bought it knows me well and it's the type of thing I like. That would not be weird in my world. That would be an awesome thing. Yes this thread is so negative....sigh.

I'd have no problem with that either, tbf. But you know, just one thing. Not the entire stall. Even if I want something I don't want industrial amounts of it.

I like the ideas posted earlier about memories, photographs, perhaps CD/DVD of old songs that she likes or films / TV shows she watched years ago . Maybe her friends and family could write letters or make recordings of a time they shared with her .

When my dad was in his 80s my brother and I tried so hard to think of presents he would like. We would normally give him a couple of presents each at Christmas.

When he died and mum moved into a care home we found all our carefully chosen presents sitting in his wardrobe . He was always very grateful for everything he received but, apart from the bottles of red wine which were always drunk, he just didn't need anything else .

Greyhound actually there are probably some collectors stalls were I would LOVE to have everything on it.
Obviously I am a greedy person
I guess you aren't a collector because you clearly don't get the idea that collecting something means wanting the whole 'set' !! That's like the whole point

shiny aw. That made me think of my old late ma. Once she got into her 80s we kind of shifted to times with her/outings/special food/drink. Also every now and then some clothing which she would say she didn’t need (warm winter coat!) but which she secretly loved us getting for her and wore all the time. We could never mention it though when we saw it on!
What are we all like, eh ?

Does she like to eat salad? A bottle of a special vinegar is a nice present
A tin of biscuits
Old skin dries out easily; good lotion is a godsend.
Puzzle book, weekly to-do planner
Make CD of music that was popular in the late 1940s and early 1950s.

Honestly a lot of these lists just sound like your Tesco shop, wrapped up 🤦🏻‍♀️

Also I am prepared to be corrected on this but why is there so much emphasis on memories, old music etc. Do old people WANT to relive their past all the time? Is it not painful to remember lost friends and relations? My parents and in laws are in their 70s and wouldn’t be interested in this. They are very much living in the present so appreciate token gifts like photos of all us with their grandkids, etc. They love photo books and calendars with recent pics from the last few years. Not tat like magnets and key rings. Or as I mentioned upthread my MIL recently asked for an Alexa. Generally they are quite anti present but at Christmas etc we tend to try and buy something like this. My FIL after a few surgeries can’t eat much but loves cook books. MIL goes out walking a lot so got a posh water bottle which she loved. I recently also got her a tracksuit she’d seen me wearing and liked (she’s pretty trendy to be fair...)

Tbh I'm still puzzling over what my perfectly with-it, but less mobile than she was, nonagenarian DM would make of a gift of 'stockings', presumably complete with suspenders belt.