Advent calendar for 89 year old

[Enkopkaffetak]

My teens and I have decided we want to make MIL an advent calendar this year.

MIL has been very sick this year and due to this is very frail. Spends most of her day in a chair in her living room. She enjoys doing some sewing but has loads of stuff for this.

We want to give her little things that just sort of makes the day a bit " comfort" All things she can use whilst sitting in her usual chair.

So far we have

Pocket tissues (Christmas ones)
Small tub of hand cream
Lip balm
1 Bauble (as well its fun) - closer to Christmas
1 string of tinsel to put around her walker
1 Mincepie (from Waitrose bakery she loves those - will be number 1)
1 Sudoku puzzle book as she likes those
1 pen (again Christmas one off course)

However then we are getting a bit stuck. She will not like us spending a lot of money on it. So cant be more than a few £ each present. She is not one for clutter so it really does need to be usable. Also she is allergic to Chocolate so we can't get her that. In the last Christmas week I was thinking we could do some more sort of Christmassy things she may not have when alone.. Food wise but I am a bit stuck as to what.. She still has some Christmas puddings in the fridge from last year of the small 1 person type so that wont be ideal.

Any ideas? Really we want something that will make her feel we care and she is loved and thought about daily.

MIl lives about half hour drive from me and whilst I go to see her once a week and DH goes every Sunday I work full time and simply can't do a regular thing where I go to find stuff. I work shift hours so it is possible to do a surprise in there and dd1 is keen on this being a Wednesday as she is off early that day and can come along. SO I shall 100% work with work to ensure I get 1 Wednesday off in December and we will do something nice.

A school visit will be just to loud for MIL she can't cope with to much going on anymore.. Really tires her.

Some amazing ideas here though. DD1 has already said "perhaps we will get enough ideas to make her a stocking too"

Grandma is well loved in this house and with all my children now being teens (bar no 4 who will be next month) I think they are a lot more aware of her mortality and really want to ensure she knows how much she means to them all.

Satsuma!

Books

Gloves

A sugar mouse

What about a rollerball perfume for pulse points, lip balm, mini poinsettia or a hyacinth growing over water/potted or mini Christmas cactus, mini Xmas tree ?

A small bottle or spray of her favourite perfume, or one that would have been popular when she was younger like Shalimar.

A little jar of salmon caviar to have on toast for a tea time treat.

Lavender bags to keep away the moths.

Bed socks for cosy toes.

A pomegranate, this used to be a winter treat/ritual when I was little, and was really special!!

A box of dates, or some dates stuffed with marzipan, a Christmas tradition!!

A box of Turkish delight, Lakeland sell the authentic stuff, they also do marrons glacé and stuffed prunes and some nice Italian little cakes, you could make up little gift bags with a few items in each one.

If she's open to new tastes, green tea or floral tea like jasmine & rose, the East India Trading Company have some lovely things, have a look on Ocado's website.

Amaryllis bulb, magazine - my mum likes 'Yours'
Nail varnish and you put it on - maybe clear or shell pink

A CD of nice Christmas music (either carols or classical music associated with Christmas).

CD audio book

Christmas teabags

Mini stollen cake

A Christmas cactus (they're tiny when they're new but you would need to re-pot it for her after a few weeks. They're gorgeous and good plants for people who are unable to water plants easily as you can get away with watering only every couple of months).

New pair of socks

Nail varnish in a festive colour (if she wears it) and a note saying that you or your DD will paint her nails for her

Ooooh what about stollen cake? Christmas cake? Some gloves, nice socks, a woollen hat, scarf, wooly or silk, a compact mirror, little hair brush, a mini perfume, some nice shampoo, alcohol gel (always useful but not very festive), a lipstick, cheese biscuits (Christmassy ones), mini pots of jam or chutney.

Is there a posh hotel near you? Could you hop in and ask very nicely if you could buy some samples of biscuits and teabags etc. Have a look somewhere on reception there might be a charity box, offer to put £5 in the box and explain what it's for, hopefully you'll get a few small bits.

Bit cheeky mind, might be better off asking on their Facebook page see if they want to do it because you've asked publicly!

Loving all these ideas.

One of these Tobar Magic Spin Stick

I know it seems daft, but when FC put one of these in DD3's stocking, she hardly got to touch it as both my DF and my DM were so enchanted by it. This year, all my DC want one (ages 9-13) and DF asked me if they still made them as he really enjoyed playing with it and would like to borrow one again. As you twirl the wand, the ends spin and catch the light and the effect is magical, and quite mesmerising. It is really calming. DF and DM are both getting their own this year.

A little note from each of your teens telling her how much they love her

One of those Oxfam Buy A Goat charity cards. I'm sure they used to do one aimed at helping a granny.

A Christmas lolly.

A temporary tattoo if she would find it funny!

Crossword and/or word search book.

Christmas jigsaw.

Bottle of kiddies' bubbles.

PlacemKing going to have to steal this idea

Have you ever chatted with her about Christmases when she was young? I know someone who only ever got satsumas at Christmas and the smell of them is very evocative. For my fil, aniseed balls are the taste of his childhood (he didn’t even know they still made them).
Spotify is absolutely magic for finding old and obscure songs that she might not have heard in decades.
All the eighty year olds I know (ok, all 3) suffer with the cold so gloved, socks or a silk scarf (would pre-loved be ok?)
A brooch (they would have been popular when she was young but not so fashionable now)
An old photo of a place she would know (maybe something you could print off the internet)
A Christmas poem
An audio book

Lovely idea OP!

What about an audiobook that she can listen to while she does her sewing?

And I just realised that is the suggestion in the post directly above mine....

Definitely get a sugar mouse, very common small gift for children when she was young.
Photo key ring or cath kidston keyring
Handbag mirror
Cloth for cleaning specs
Pretty napkins
Bookmark
Clip on earrings
Broach
Small photo frame

Lovely idea and some great suggestions on here.

Apologies if repeating but:

lovely, individually wrapped tea bags

little pots of jam/marmalade/honey/chutney

yes to a sugar mouse!

This Works sleep spray and pulse point stuff - you can get a tiny pack in M&S or JL which you could split over two days

A tiny succulent or cactus

a satsuma

might she appreciate one of the lovely 'special' coins from the Royal Mint?

tin of Vaseline

mini perfume - Next do some nice ones for about £4

Just love this! My fave of your list is tinsel for her walker!

A throw to use as a blanket or a cushion both of which you could buy cheaply in Primark.

A shawl which would keep her nice and warm inside in winter.

Sorry, just realized it was advent calendar ideas you were after. Don't think my suggestions would fit inside a calendar :)

A gingerbread man? Waitrose and M&S sell individually wrapped ones.

Also, re. Glasses cleaning cloths, you can get them printed with a family photo, so maybe one with the DCs on, or a picture you know she’d like (a scene, building, favourite bird or whatever) . I got some done via an eBay seller a couple of years ago and my parents loved them!

If she does crosswords, sudoku or whatever, have you seen those pens that you can rub out using a rubber bit on other end? ? They’re called Frixion, lots of places sell them though they can be about £5 for one if no ‘deal’. Cheapest is to buy a multipack from amazon and keep a few for yourself , they do write nice and smoothly.

How about a small compact mirror? People like Radley do v nice ones though not so cheap... I bought some vintage ones off eBay that were cheap and characterful, or mainstream chemists usually have a choice.

Erm... one of those little tins with strong mints in?

Wrist warmers?

Best present I ever gave my MIL was a remote controlled plug socket. I got it so they didn’t have to crawl about under the Christmas tree to turn the tree lights on and off at the socket but could do it via remote control... they now have all of their lamps in the sitting room on the remote thingy and love it!

Is she likes sewing, how about some pretty embroidery scissors? If you put that search term into google you’ll get some lovely ones

A pretty foldable shopping bag?

I’ll keep thinking...

I think nearer the time you can get individual small pieces of Waitrose or Marks and Spencer christmas cake- not sure if she likes it or just mince pies?

You could get a personalized or pretty embroidered handkerchief?

Pretty earrings or a necklace... although I guess they'd be at least £10 so maybe not unless that was her 24/25th present.

Soft/fluffy bed socks- my Gran used to love those as she always had freezing feet.

A small notebook- if she writes?

Nail polish.

A Christmas CD if she has a CD player.

I also love the suggestion above that she might like 'We're coming around at 4pm today' type 'vouchers'- company is really high on most older people's wish lists (unless of course she still has a husband or is fiercely independent).

I second the This Works sleep stuff. I buy it for DM every year.