If you are a woman between 50-60 please give me feedback on these gifts!

[GotMooMilk]

MIL is the HARDEST person ever to buy for. She doesn't really have any hobbies, doesn't like food presents (have given her a hamper of home made food and drink last year and no one has looked less impressed at anything...!) and has an incredibly minimalist house so doesn't like home gifts. She doesn't like going places she hasn't been so a restaurant/theatre voucher wouldn't be used.
Every Christmas or birthday she kills me! Anyway I have got her:

• Fluffy slippers
• Gel eye mask that can be kept in fridge or warmed
• Small box of chocolates
• Make up bag

Does this sound ok?

But ‘posh pyjamas’ cost £400, not £25 …

@GotMooMilk Nice scarf and chocs - all good!

Now this thread will run until 11pm on Christmas Eve with people suggesting presents that cost a small fortune and how they themselves are so discerning . So irritating, more like!

The professional regifters - grrrrr! You could see dm with every present calculating who she was going to give it to. A wealthy relative once gave her a Cross pen. Dm, not being familiar with the make, was rewrapping it a few days later to send to a cousin for her birthday to whom she usually sent a pair of American Tan tights every year

I fall into that age bracket and would find that pretty dull to be honest. But your MIL sounds pretty hard to buy for (and ungrateful - clearly don't bother making her anything in future!).

I would prefer one treat item for the budget - something I wouldn't buy for myself like a Neals Yard moisturiser or Occitane shower gel, rather than several small things. Sounds like she'd rather have something she can use if she doesn't like food/drink or house items. Or John Lewis voucher and she can choose something for herself?

Ah, just seen the update - scarf is useful/functional so sounds like it will suit her perfectly

One of my go to presents for people I don't know is L'Occitaine shower gel. It's lovely and a perfect thing to re-gift if they don't like it. A well known name so it looks like a good present.

I'm not the age group but I would be extremely grateful for your presents. I find it hard to understand feeling all these negative feelings people are describing when someone has done something nice and bought me a present! Especially when struggling with an unwell husband too! (Sending warm wishes.)

I would really like all the things you have chosen. I also love being given socks! Nice ones are quite expensive. I think you've done your best and bought some nice things. That's all you can do! Forget about it now, I would say.

Thank you, and I'm sorry this happens to you too. One or two times I could think it was a mistake or forgetful but I'm not sure if it is deliberate now.

@GotMooMilk Glad things are sorted.

I would love a voucher for Cook. Too pricey for everyday- great for someone that doesn’t cook. Meals for one or many.

Glad you got sorted OP. I’m not far off 50 and have relatives in that bracket so I was following for some ideas but it didn’t quite turn out like that 🙃

Just to the poster who said no one would be able to distinguish B&H from something else - I would and that’s the only present I’d be disappointed to receive because it’s a pound land product that someone has been fleeced for. I’d rather be bought 25 x Poundland products than 1 x B&H gift set. I say that as someone who does buy B&H hand wash for the home. Not as a special treat.

Not for me, but I am not your MIL so we are probably very different people.

If it helps, I would be more in favour of:
Good wine
Decent gin
Annual cheese subscription
Books or book tokens (sounds dull, but I spend a fortune on books every year)
Annual membership for an art gallery
Expensive, good quality socks
Cyberjammies pyjamas (w plain, long sleeved tops, and no cutesy pictures, emblems etc)

Actually the slippers would be OK, if not too "girly".

Well done getting it sorted. I think it's epically rude to not know what you want, but to continue to expect a present.

We had decades of it from my gran. She didn't need or want anything so we'd end up giving her random stuff or generic gifts which literally baffled her.

All she had to say (like my other granny did) was 'I've got everything I need, but I do look forward to getting a lovely Christmas card from you, I treasure them' or something like that. But she never did. Year after year of agonised choosing and blank faced 'gratitude'.

Who has the bloody energy???

So we have some sensible people in our family. Here are some practical gifts that have been given and loved

electric toothbrush
thermal vests (the nice m and s ones)
waffle maker
national trust membership - to take grandkids too
english heritage
(fake) chocolate velvetiser for hot chocolate
a phone magnifying stand ie makes it in to a tablet for watching videos
rocket book
calendar
fluffy / bamboo socks
the note to grandchildren books where grandparents can fill in details of their lives and give back to grandchildren. Facts and funny stories. They do them for parents too.
a subscription for flowers for a few months
a string dispenser
(fake) oodie style jumpers
a plug in electric throw
a new kettle - a le creuset one for on the hob
an Electric photo frame that you can upload images on from your phone and they rotate through

that’s it from me 🏕️

Sounds lovely. Well done!

I have sent food subscription-type gifts with success. The Courtyard Dairy will send Christmas cheeses and they also do three-month, six-month and 12-month subs, so your recipient receives interesting cheese every month. Everyone I've sent it to has really enjoyed it.

https://www.thecourtyarddairy.co.uk/

https://thebakerspig.com/ and the Black Mountains Smokery https://www.smoked-foods.co.uk/hampers-and-subscriptions

Offer subscription gifts for charcuterie, smoked meat, fish and so on. I can personally recommend both.

Every time I go to the Courtyard Dairy site to order a gift for someone else - I end up with about a kilo of cheese for myself …

I know, it's very tempting to pick one for them and one for me...

I'm in that age group and I think that any gift should be gratefully received. The giver has put thought, effort and money into choosing the gift and THAT is to be appreciated regardless!

400!! Maybe different concept of posh?! Yes for Liberty silk I guess. I’ve been coveting a pair for months but it’s too hard to justify accidentally slopping toothpaste down them.

Yum. I’d love this but MIL had turned her nose up at food gifts. OP has had her work well and truly cut out for her but I love what you have chosen OP.

A kilo of cheese😉

I'm that age. I'd like slippers - but probably prefer ones I like.
I'd like a bubble bath/ shower gel that was a bit more luxurious than my regular ones
Chocolate would be ok.
I'd like a standard grey cardigan or perhaps a M&S voucher for an equivalent amount that I could spend on myself

• that's just me, though. Good luck

I was with a group of women in thos age group recently (as am I) and we were extolling the virtues of good cheese. So yes, I'd say a kilo of good cheese 🧀

I’m a bit worried about that wink emoji. Have I said something ridiculous?