50 Gifts

[Challdell]

Hi
My Sister will be 50th at the beginning of March and we have just found out that she will be having her long awaited surgery 2 weeks before so will be unable to celebrate the way we / she had planned. She also will be pretty much out of action for atleast 6 months.

i have foolishly agreed with my Mum to give her 50 gifts as her present.

Im looking for various value of gifts but it’s not as easy as I first thought.
Has anyone done anything similar or lead me to where I can find some inspiration please?

But just the thought of opening FIFTY gifts makes me want to hide..

Another one saying don’t do this! I’m turning 50 soon and I’d hate this! I don’t have room for 50 gifts in my flat. I don’t need 50 gifts - I’d feel guilty about chucking or regifting. I’d much prefer one special gift that I loved or something like a meal out in a fancy I’d never usually go to or a lovely weekend away

Sorry I couldn't think of anything worse. 50 bits of tat to dispose of.

I had 40 gifts for my 40th from DH and young DS, but some of them were little things like a lip balm or a packet of the gum I like, or a little Lego chosen by DS, the last gift was a ring.
It’s not something I expected again for my 50th, and I definitely wouldn’t expect it from DM & a sibling.
At this sort of age I’d appreciate one quality gift rather than a fair bit of tat tbh.

I’d hate this, such a waste and so much clutter! The photo book of 50 photos is a good idea.

And name the book 50 favourites to our favourite, or something like that..

@pyjamaphile I have thought of this so was thinking I might do it like an advent calendar and the last few days will be the big presents or he’ll have help from the DC and probably won’t get to open half of them even if he wanted to!
Another nice idea is 50 nice memories about them put into a book?

Your DC will love it, and your list of gifts were good..not just tat.

@RudolfsLeftToe when my children were younger they made a picture frame for my dh. His photo in the middle and then around it they had written things what they thought he was good at from their perspective. Good at running, making nice fish fingers (!), good at reading a special book with silly voices etc. He has still got it.. 😂

Ive seen this in TikTok and personally i think its 50 pieces of tat she won’t need.

I'm just over 50 and would have hated this!!!

Be very sure before you go down this route

No 50 year old woman recovering from an operation wants 50 bits of tat. 50 photos in an album and one great present is a much better idea.

God, even at £5 a shot, this will add up to £250 of tat, and very little chance of there being 50 x £5 things any bugger wants. I bet you’d regret it.

Buy her a few nice presents and take her out when she’s fit.

Imagine trying to find a place to put 50 gifts when she has opened them. Unless she’s a fan of clutter I really wouldn’t do it.
I like the idea a pp had of 50 photos/momentous in a photo album/scrap book to represent her life.

I think the 50 photos are a great idea.

Or how about 5 bigger gifts - one for each decade?

Don't do this. No one has space for 50 gifts in their house.

A photo book with 50 photos across the years is a nice idea, though.

Oh God. Echoing pp to say this would be a nightmare. Likely to be 47 bits of shite with maybe 3 nice things. Who wants extra clutter in their house? Especially when they're sick?

If she is going to be out of action (I'm assuming alot here eg if it affects her mobility) then maybe get her some things that will make the time she is incapacitated more interesting. Eg Kindle with remote control, or books, prescription for Netflix, wool and needles, to knit or crochet, if she is that kind of person, magazine subscription, new tablet, special cushion or blanket for comfort, someone to come in and do her makeup, hair, (wash and blow dry) nails or a foot massage.... or a cleaner for a few days...

It depends on what your sister likes and budget as to whether you can pull it off.

You could do 20 cheap things eg a lip balm, hair bands, deodorant, hand cream, kitkat etc 20 ok things but still reasonable eg Aldi candle, the seashell chocolates etc then 8 nicer things and 2 proper presents. But this would not be cheap because even cheap things are £1-2

How about a gift per decade, instead?

If your mum is absolutely set on 50 things ( though I agree with the majority I wouldn't do that)
How about promise of bunch of flowers a month for the year, starting with bunch on her birthday =12
Homemade cake of her choice each month for the year = 12
Book of homemade vouchers for lunch out x12, visits to say local national trust, art gallery, garden centre etc, places she would like to go, even walk and a coffee in local park. And maybe for things like mobile hairdresser if she's not going to be able to get out to one, or vouchers for evening in watching film of her choice, playing board games, crafting together.... Stuff she would enjoy... Things she can look forward to doing once she is well enough, plus the gift of your time. 24 vouchers
Then a book and a nice bottle of wine (plus aforementioned flowers) on the actual day

I didn’t explain as clear as I should have done. I was going to let her chose 10 to open on her actual birthday and then she opens a random present each day for 40 days after.
I have on my list things like gift voucher for her nails to be done, massage / facial. Vouchers to her favourite restaurant, cash, Euros for holiday she has booked at the end of the year.
Make up brush set, travel toiletries, personalised luggage tag, scratch cards.

Hopefully they are all useful things as opposed to just stuff.

its very difficult to organise things to do as she is often away travelling with work and gets called away last minute.

its very difficult to organise things to do as she is often away travelling with work and gets called away last minute.

You said she’ll be out of action for at least six months though, so assume no travelling with work then.

@Challdell I'm clearly in the minority 🤣 but I still think you're idea sounds good