Help needed for poor MIL, DH is hopeless with present-buying!

[JKSLtd]

DH is notoriously rubbish at buying presents for his Mum.
(she is an excellent MIL btw pfgrin])

One year he rushed it in the Body Shop and ended up buying her a toiletry set...for men. She was upset though can laugh it off now.

I know she goes to loads of effort to think of things for him (and the rest of us) and has been thinking/buying for months.

I insisted this year that his family were his responsibility, though I caved and ordered Thorntons chocs for his aunt & cousins...

So yesterday he came home all proud that he'd found something perfect...a box of coasters.
Now they are rather lovely coasters & she will use them on her coffee table (well she uses others so assume she will), with a Union Jack pattern, in a nice box. But still...

On Christmas Day, she will have a mug from DS1 (the only DC old enough to get the idea of giving her something), something from FIL I guess, and a box of coasters.

He doesn't get that this might be bad, or make her sad, he says he spent hours thinking about what to get her - well he may have thought in abstract for hours, it's not like he thought how much she'd love these particular coasters then spent hours hunting them down.

So I've said I'll get her something else because I feel so bad for her. But what? She's on a diet so nothing edible.
I can go into town now or tomorrow (standard High St) or Asda or Waitrose/JL.

Any thoughts???

Goldenbrown - how do i get the photos off my phone? can i plug it into their machine somehow

Xmasbaby - the thing is I end up feeling bad, I like my MIL and don't want her hurt or upset that her son can only manage such a small gift for her. And she is i/c all presents in their house so probably thinks I am here - or I should be - which has become clear, again this year, sigh.

If she is like my MIL she will love anything her DS gets her but it would be nice to get her something good too. Flowers?

My MIL is getting a CD (some opera type bloke) and a copper bracelet (that she requested) and some L'occitane toiletries .

Get a big book of photography for her, maybe something to do with the English countryside or whatever she likes.

WHat about coasters for Mum, CD for dad, then give the wine, a big box of crackers and cheese, some appropriate nibbles for her dietary needs, and maybe a family game (suggest Articulate or similar) that the whole family can enjoy together, as a joint gift to BOTH parents? Plus, this would be a contribution to the day as well

Get the jumper for her b;day

LikeAnAdvent - you may be onto something there, cd for him, coasters for her, wine shared. let me see what DH thinks.

They are staying with us so getting them crackers, etc will be like getting ourselves stuff I feel, even the wine i wouldn't think they should open it here, but take it home to enjoy just the 2 of them.

Book on photography is good too, esp on how to photograph children as her DGC are all she photographs really :)

Excellent ideas for her birthday!

ARGH he reall yis hopeless!!

I suggested the new plan, he said well the CD is a sort of a jokey cd, a group of guys from work so i'll have to give him something else then.

So now he watns to give his Dad; a cd, some choc brazils & half a bottle of wine and his Mum; half a bottle of wine and some coasters.

This doesn't feel like an improvement.

Heheh, Im sorry, but I think the idea of two half bottles of wine for one couple is quite funny

Just buy one bottle? Or a full white and a full red?

JKS I thought my DH was a bad shopper, but Im starting to think it may be a gender thing.

Much as I think men should share some of the burden for Christmas, it may be less stressful to do it yourself next year (just agree budget with him before you start).

Well he has bought 1 bottle, i mean share it between them :)

i think i will next year!!

In case you still want to do the collage idea, or just tizzy up a few nice pics of the kids, have you tried using Picnik ?

L'occitane or Crabtree and Evelyn for nice toiletries. Beauty treatment voucher from her local place.

Am looking at Picnik - seems like it should work as it can take whatever photos i've put on FB, if it works. See Fb isn't all bad

She lives quite far from us so getting hold of a local voucher is tricky now, if i'd thought of it earlier (ie given up on DH!) then i could've got FIL to get something.

Will keep those toiletries in mind though if I do end up rushing into town tomorrow...thanks.

Your DH IS hopeless!

I second the beauty voucher idea, and yes the jumper. It's nice.

Next year maybe get them both a family subscription to English Heritage or something or the National Opera? Then you can give little gifts too.

(Actually, I am not sure how much those subscriptions would be.... maybe £60?)

How about a magazine subscription, you can get whatever suits her really easily for about £20-£30 for the year, and don't even need to go to a shop! Country Living, or Good Housekeeping maybe?

Digital photo frame or keyring is great idea. What about a yankee candle burner and some tarts for it? Book of history of area she is from. I got a grandpparents book for them to fill in about there past and then the grandchildren keep!

Spent ages on picnik but no luck yet, getting dc to bed then out for a concert so will have to try again tomorrow.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone

Oooh, I get a magazine subscription each Christmas off my Aunt,I love it! I get very excited on a Tuesday knowing my magazine (that I would happily have popped to the shop for) will be posted through my door instead

I got my MIL a photo calander, picked it up in Wilkinsons where all there photo range is half price so it was only £2.99 and then just printed and added the photos for each month.

Hey JKS, you can Bluetooth your pics in Boots you know!! Just stand near the thing, turn on your Bluetooth and it should pick up the machine. Then beam whichever pic of beautiful dgcs you like best, print multiples and present her with an album, or stick with an 8 x 10 in a pretty frame.

The coasters are nice,but your mil does sound more deserving. Mine would do cat bum face.......

Thanks Sarah I have never used (or understood) Bluetooth! May have to give it a go if I can't figure it out at home tomorrow morning.

I love subscriptions. I get DH Private eye. ILs Gardner's world and my parents House and Garden.

wish someone would buy me a sub!

JKS - I am late to this, and also always go overboard at Christmas, but I would buy the jumper.

Coasters is a spectacular fail I think, unless there is an agreement to only exchange token presents. We do token gifts with the adults in DH's family - their idea - and do proper presents with the adults in my family. I would not buy a cashmere jumper for MIL because she would have only got me and/or DH something small and would be v.embarrassed, but I would buy something like that for my Mum because we do proper gifts.

Now I'm starting to feel guilty. My DH is as awful as yours is. I always buy for my MIL, (she's easy) and tell DH he's responsible for FIL. Every year I always cave in, because DH will just faff about and wait for me to panic, but this year I stood my ground and didn't help. Finally DH dug around in his desk and came up with a voucher that someone gave him over a year ago, and bought FIL a hat (almost exactly the same as one FIL already has) that he only chose because it was one of the few things on there that the gift voucher would cover. It has arrived and looks cheap and tatty (because it was cheap), and I feel awful. Did I mention last year FIL bought DH a 40 bottle wine refrigerator?

I'd go for the jumper too. I wouldn't worry about spending more on MIL than FIL. In our case the mums usually have a bit more spent on them. My mum also helps me out with childcare on a regular basis so she definately deserves more.