What are you buying elderly relatives?

[Lovemusic33]

I need to buy something for my grandmother, she’s 94, lives on her own, only goes out once a week when my aunt takes her shopping. She usually gets gifted so much food that she ends up giving it away so I don’t want to gift any food. I haven’t got a huge budget, maybe £10-£15, she has fluffy blankets, heated blankets etc..

What are you buying for your elderly relatives?

I'm getting DGM(96) a bunch of flowers again. She always complains it like living in a florist! However, she vehemently does not want things or stuff or food.

Nice soft jumper, jigsaw, audiobooks on CD, puzzle books.

What about one of those plug in heat pads? So cosy if you're a bit chilly or have a little ache. Or a cosy blanket that she can put on her lap?

@Bottl do you mean they come ready planted in containers? Sounds like something my dm might like. (82 with dementia, cupboards full of clothes, will get plenty sweet stuff, got her a bird feeder stand last year...)

My mum is 80, she needed a new gas cooker as the ignition switch failed on hers (and it was old so didn't have a safety cut out) so we've already had that installed but bought her some jigsaw puzzles, a cd and smellies so she has something to unwrap. Also we buy her a hamper every year, but fill it ourselves so we know it has her favourite things in.

I buy older relatives or friends flowers but I get them delivered a few weeks before christmas if they are going to be away for christmas. I wouldnt complain if anyone got me flowers as I never but them for myself.

Promise of an outing somewhere she would enjoy
Book / audio book
Does she watch DVDs or is she hooked up to Netflix etc?
Any art and craft materials?
DNA testing ancestry kit
Goldfish
New tablecloth or cushion
Lovely egg cup (if she eats boiled eggs)

I buy Amaryllis lily. It comes already in a pot of compost ready to go. Then all January watch it grow. It’s fascinating. Everyone loves them. Usually £5 in Sainsburys or Marks and Spencer.

87 year old mil: lightweight but cosy cardigan with pockets for her tissues, nice blouse (nice means it buttons up to her neck and is made of fabric that doesn't need ironing), a 27" length A line skirt that won't need ironing. A scarf or shawl (she loves both) and a pretty woollie hat (she wears a hat all day every day!). Possibly a small box of Fererro Rocher (which she will give back to me😁).

I get her clothes from M&S or Notes, both currently open.

*Boyes

M&S talc, the floral fragrances, and matching soap where always firm favourites with 90+ MIL.

What about a Christmas plant arrangement - this is M&S but I'm sure other places will have similar cheaper. I've had these before ans the green plants last for ages and you can add a little coloured plant I when the poinsettia dies off.

Other thoughts apart from jumper/cardigan: a long necklace which she can pop over her head without fiddling with a clasp; fingerless gloves; a shawl

My Aunty is in her 80s, and my DHs Grandmothers are in their late 80s, they love "proper" handkerchiefs, I got some lovely embroidered ones from Amazon for about £10.

I'm going to take them out of the box, and wrap them in some nice tissue.

www.amazon.co.uk/Ladies-Coloured-Embroidered-Handkerchiefs-cotton/dp/B003YL143O/ref=sr_1_12?dchild=1&keywords=Handkerchiefs+for+ladies&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1605889727&sr=8-12

Have a look at subscriptions like woman's weekly, readers digest etc. You can sometimes get shorter term subscriptions which are cheaper.

Seriously?

Seriously??

Do you think a 90 year old has never heard of Vogue?

And where would the OP get a 'nice' piece of knitwear, new, for £10 or £15? No nonagenarian relative of mine would thank me for Primark acrylic when they're accustomed to Cos and Toast at the very least ...

Sorry if I seem snotty or ungracious - but I truly hate this assumption that anyone elderly must be utterly devoid of good taste or any comprehension of 21st century culture.

@haggisaggis - yes, all planted and either flowering or about to flower.

@PoulePouletteEternellement why not add your own suggestions then?
When people ask for age ideas they expect general ideas.Woman's Weekly has a 55+ Readership of over 250,000, 79% of its readership. So quite a few seniors would appreciate that as a gift, whether you like it or not.

I've sent my elderly sheilding mother a F&M hamper this year - she's missed out on so much this year and I want her to feel really special, as she is. She's never received anything like that. Nice food and coffee for her cupboard, all of which that will 'keep' for ages.

Also bought a few bits for under her tree to open on Christmas Day.

Ideas:

• afternoon tea voucher
• nice handwash/hand cream for her bathroom
• reusable shopping bag
• puzzle book
• framed family photos
• diabetic socks
• warm anything!

Okay, let's think ...

Fairly recent main presents for someone over 85 have included Frederic Malle perfume, Georg Jensen silver jewellery, Ipad, Grenson boots, lots of Toast / Cos clothes, Tom Ford cosmetics, newly published books, Ugg slippers, lots of garden stuff, 'good' bed linen, cashmere beanies, etc. Not all exclusively from me of course, but all suiting the recipient's tastes and interests.

Stocking presents (so within the £10/15 budget): foody things - honey, tea, chocolate; small thermal things - vests, socks, flowering bulbs, can't remember all the rest!

I've bought bulbs for elderly relatives in the past, nice to have something that grows up through winter to early spring, and the pot can be reused if inclined.

I've just bought my mum some cashmere gloves from Uniqlo, using a new email address got me £10 off, making them £15 (and I filled a basket for myself as well, which if I keep any of it, DH can give me for Xmas).

I've also bought bird feeders for my parents in the past too. My personal favourite is the one that sticks to a window, so birds get really close to you. Loved it so much, I now have one on my bedroom window, and love watching the blue tits and coal tits pecking away to find their favourite sunflower seeds!

My mum was delighted one year when I bought her a book that I'd loved (Life After Life by Kate Atkinson), she also loved it, and was pleased to be introduced to an author she'd not read before - she went on to read her other books. She loves it when she can devour a new author.

[My parents suggested adults have a £10-£20 limit on gifts - they're very comfortable, as are we, but as we all tend to just buy what we want, a smaller budget meant more thoughtful gifts rather than a prescribed I'd like x,y,z please. Plus if it's not really your thing, it's not lots of money wasted]

Has she got a good sense of humour? Maybe a funny gift like a fart machine? Or one of those solar powered dancing Queens

A few years ago I gave my grans books with old pictures of the towns they lived in. Both lived in the same place their whole life so loved seeing what it was like when they were young

The other thing that was a big hit recently was cushion covers - bit random but my gran had mentioned a few times that she wanted new cushion covers but she wasn’t getting out much so she hadn’t been able to buy any. I sneakily measured them one day while she was in the bathroom and she was chuffed with them as a gift. Listen out and see if she mentions anything like that

We've been having the same struggle this year with my elderly Grandparents both are in the late 70s to mid 80s. So far we've order some books; my Grandmother loves a good novel and my Grandfather loves local history books as he loves to reminisce about the places he grew up in. We've also been considering something like a CD player and CDs or perhaps something like a radio? Is she open to technology? What's about a fire tablet? I noticed one is available on the Amazon Black Friday sales at £34.99...both my Grandparents love their tablets and have found it beneficial during the lockdown periods for communication.
I hope you manage to find a nice gift OP!