... to ask you for your non-cliche presents for the (very) elderly

[rightsaidfrederickII]

Let's be honest. They've had a lot of Christmases and they've been considered old for about the last 15/20 of them, and all the classic old person presents have been done to death so many times they never want to see a set of smellies or pot plant again.

The following are officially off the list:
Calendars
Nice toiletries
Flowers
Chocolates / other sweet things
Long books (the concentration isn't there anyway)
Tech which contains more than 3 buttons (more trouble than it's worth to teach them how to use it and have them forget by Boxing Day, and again the day after that)
Shite made by the kids
Pot plants
Alcohol (half a glass and someone will fall over and break their hip)
Jigsaws and other puzzles
Hat / glove / scarf sets

What has everyone else come up with? Previous successes of mine for someone nearer 100 than 90 but still independent include

• 'One cup' kettle that dispenses a cup of hot water at time and means she doesn't have to lift the kettle any more www.argos.co.uk/product/1219292 (11 months on and she's still saying how good it is!!)
• Coffee table books of her favourite animal species and - for the people watcher in her - Humans of New York Stories www.amazon.co.uk/Humans-New-York-Brandon-Stanton/dp/1447295552?tag=mumsnetforum-21
• A 'meet the animals' experience at the local zoo where she got to go into the enclosure and feed them (wheelchair friendly, hurrah!)

Anyone else had any inspired ideas?

if they have a bird feeder in the garden, then a pair of good quality, lightweight binoculars and a bird book makes a good present.
Supply of bird food, with some of the special mixes that attract different varieties of birds.
If they are into gardening, then a Bee-house.
We had a great hit with a toy dog that you could voice train to do a few 'tricks'.

A battery operated gadget that opens jar lids and similar that opened tins.

As pp said, you can get copies of old newspapers, maybe look for ones from when they were twenty one, or the days their children were born, or the day they were married.

Great thread, thanks. Have got a couple of ideas for my lovely, but hard to shop for, aunt.

Heat pad.

An historic ordnance survey map showing when and where she grew up. I got one for my elderly relative and she really enjoyed pouring over it. You can pick any year when ordering. www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/my-historic-map.html

I bought my granny a book of recollections of her hometown - we read it together and it sparked a lot of memories I’d never heard before. A lot of that kind of thing are privately published and therefore not on amazon; you might need to do a bit of googling.
Other ideas
Electronic photo frame ready stocked with photos (she was amazed by this)
Even more amazed by the “touch lamp” for her bedside table which made it easier to get a light on when she woke in the night.
She had had dogs all her life but couldn’t have pets in her last accommodation and acquired quite a collection of toy fluffy dogs of varying breeds - she adored them (and choosing one made a lovely souvenir for her many great grandchildren when she eventually passed on.)

Op, having spent the evening setting up my old mum's internet hub, your op has made me laugh so much fun with it's deadly accuracy.

*so much with

Amazon Alexa

My 75 year old mum loves hers for radio/audible /alarms/weather forecasts etc with no getting up and down or finding the remote.

They may not be as elderly, but my grandparents are in their mid-eighties and are getting DNA ancestry kits from DH and I. My Grandad doesn't have the energy to do his genealogy research anymore, but this will be really easy for them.

I think my sister is getting them an aromatherapy diffuser and essential oils.

My parents always get them flowers. They did one of those Hello Fresh things for a month last year though as my Grandma's arthritis gets bad in winter wo it helped them have nice homecooked meals.

My cousin usually just takes them out.

My nana is in her late 80s and presents she has loved include pie face and a despicable me fart gun. This year the family are clubbing together to buy her some kind of digital photo frame that you can text or email pictures to....

What a lovely thread. I am rapidly approaching the very elderly stage and I hope that, when I get there, my loved ones put as much thought and love into gifts for me as you all clearly do for your loved oldies.

My personal favourite is the half naked butler, just in case any of my nearest and dearest are here.

*Breadwithgarlicon
*
Do you have an example of the memory book you mentioned?
TIA

DNA tests - what a great idea! Because once they’re gone, that information is lost forever.

meercat

Thank you right. She will go to very familiar places but she was very ill about 4 yrs ago and ended up with a stoma (which was later reversed) but since then she has been quite worried about toilets. Her mobility is not great but won't use a wheelchair.

My mum and dad are a bit younger but I mainly give them money (so they can got out for tea etc) or things that get used up, I can't get stuff out the house but I can try and not add to it.

My husband's uncle lives in a care home and he has dementia(he's 95-ish), and he really clings to family photos. He likes to be able to show people that he has young family members who care about him and visit him, so the framed photos of him with our children were really appreciated.
I wish we'd had a photo book made for him earlier, but his nurses say that now it might be distressing for him if there were too many people and places he couldn't remember.

My granny loves anything to do with the royal family - on the Buckingham Palace website you can buy very reasonably priced "royal collection" jewelry which is modelled on items owned by the royals, and she loved a maple leaf brooch I bought her.
My granddad loves anything to do with the war, and he loved an old medal I got him.

Digital photo frame pre-loaded with family photos which will just keep scrolling through.
Subscription to Discover Britain magazine.
Small fleece blankets are snug but grandmother likes them because they 'don't get heavy'.
The OP said no pot plants but, now she has no garden, we have found the pots ready-planted with bulbs are popular as she likes to watch them grow. Hyacinths or amaryllis are very reliable & the hyacinths smell so nice and bring back garden memories.
Manicure very popular too.

USB photo frame. You can preload it.
If appropriate a bag to hang off a walking frame even in a residential home my gran has things like her address book, crosswords, pens and letters she's writing as well as stamps and mobile phone to move around on her visits to other residents or communal areas.

Oh yes I paid for a mobile hairdresser / beautician before her birthday as the (usual) visiting hairdresser was on a different day. She loved that.

My nan is 87. I bought her a Kindle last year because she was struggling to read even large print books from the library. She loves it and although she doesn't have internet, it works well because I live round the corner, so I nip round and collect the kindle to download books from my Amazon account at home then return it.

This year she wants a new purse and a small alarm clock with luminous hands.

Give them time. A homemade voucher to take them out to their favourite coffee shop for lunch or afternoon tea with you is worth more than all the shortcake in the land.

Exactly this. This is what we do for DH's grandparents. They don't want gifts, but they love their grandson taking them to the garden centre to look around, followed by cake and tea in the restaurant.

They also love getting a calendar with pictures of the children.

A digital camera and a promise to help get photos printed went down very well with our 80 something.