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What are you getting your mother-in-law for Christmas?

76 replies

OrribleOliveoil · 20/10/2005 15:32

And no comments like 'another face' or 'a hitman' etc please, serious suggestions only (unless too funny to keep to yourself obv).

My mil has my girls 3 days a week and I want to spoil her....however, she has no hobbies, doesn't like pampering things and hardly goest out. Hmmmmmmmm.

She like trashy biogs about Lady Diana that I do know.

Ideas?

OP posts:
orangina · 20/10/2005 16:26

what if you take the kids to one of those places where they decorate mugs, plates etc with hand/foot prints, their own artwork etc. Or has she had too many of those over the years?

(My MIL is getting a soapdish with dd's 6month old footprint in it. and perhaps a book on tape)

orangina · 20/10/2005 16:27

perhaps there is a lady di memorial magazine subscription you might be able to buy for her ....!

teeavee · 20/10/2005 16:29

got mine a necklace and a big coffe-table book containing photographs of the Sahara last year - she was about to run a Marathon in the Sahara desert (Algeria) over New Year ! (don't ask)

don't think she was mad keen on the book tbh, but she has worn the necklace a lot, and says she's had colleagues compliment her on it.

For her 60th birthday we clubbed together for a season theatre ticket, and she really loved that.

Clothes can be nice idea if you really feel you know her taste (and size!)

weekend away for 2 incl theatre/show, train, hotel etc?

elitemeetupCOD · 20/10/2005 16:31

mag sub

teeavee · 20/10/2005 16:31

things reating to the kids are nice, but i think even mILs like to be thought of as individuals in their own right too...

elitemeetupCOD · 20/10/2005 16:32

god eys no kids dtuff

moondog · 20/10/2005 17:22

I need to know about the Sahara marathon teeavee!

Mirage · 20/10/2005 20:32

I saw a lovely present in Pastimes the other day.it was a grandparents book & had sections for the grandparent to write about their own childhood,then when their own children & grandchildren were born ect.I thought it was a really good idea,as children love to hear how their parents/grandparents grew up.

teeavee · 20/10/2005 20:48

moondog, my MIL started running marathons when she was 50 (post-divorce). She hasn't stopped since! She's v. good in her age category, apparently. She's done the Paris one twice,Amsterdam, the Medoc/Bordeaux marathon (you run from chateau to chateau and get pissed at the same time), the Mont St Michel marathon (the only one where you can see the end destination from the beginning of the race to the end - how depressing would that be!!) etc, etc...

She did the Algerian one with the friend - had to be ferried to the middle of the desert by the Algerian army with gendarme escort, saw a lot of camels, ate some sates, took photos, ran the race(boiling), slept in bedouin tents(freezing), then came home knackered! She really enjoyed it - God know what the locals thought of them though!

She's about 100 times fitter than me - totallly hyper though, won't eat, won't sit down and have a panad, can't relax....but she's v.nice in small doses.

teeavee · 20/10/2005 20:49

sates = dates
she bought us back some saharan sand too!

charliebat · 20/10/2005 20:50

Tea at the ritz from lastminute.co.uk?

Only a suggestion. Feck all for my MIL

spidermama · 20/10/2005 20:54

I found a really elegant jewellery holder (she loves her bling) in the shape of a ladies hand, only nicer. It's cast in some sort of resin.

God writing this down it sounds like the most awful piece of tat but I swear it's not. It's really lovely.

The Hattie Jakes nightie I bought her last year went down like a lead balloon. It was never mentioned. So this year I'm making a special effort.

How about a massage or spa session?

FrumpyGrumpy · 20/10/2005 21:04

I'd really love to contribute something here but all I can come up with is food poisoning. I'm sorry, I really am. It is totally to be kept within her address though and I wish everyone elses MIL a wonderful christmas .

FauxVampire · 20/10/2005 21:18

On Loose Women this lunchtime [was in the gym, honest] Gyles Brandreth was brandishing a new book about Charles and Camilla - or would that be too painful for a Diana fan?

compo · 20/10/2005 21:20

A witches hat and broomstick
Seriously though, I'm not getting anything for MIL, dh is, cos it's his mother

compo · 20/10/2005 21:23

actually I'm surprised I'm the first person to ahve said that. Does your dh/dp buy presents for your parents? Do you lot do all the Christmas shopping for both sides of the faily?

starshaker · 20/10/2005 21:24

oh frumpygrumpy can i have some of youe poison please

teeavee · 20/10/2005 21:27

my dp is monumentally crap at buying prsents, so...yes, I choose the presents for his family too. on eyear I made him choose a present for his sister's 29th birthday, and he bought...a plain white lasagne dish! whiach was apparently 'handmade designer'(did NOT look it) and had cost a bloody fortune!!!
his sis was absolutely enraptured with such a wonderful original present, as you can imagine...I was embarassed, as it was meant to be from us both, and I bet she thought it was me who had chosen it.

JoolsToo · 20/10/2005 21:31

no hobbies, no pampering and doesn't go out - doesn't leave us with much to go at Olive!

magicfarawaytree · 20/10/2005 21:32

a holiday home.

spidermama · 20/10/2005 21:35

Sexist assertion alert!!!!

Compo IMO it's the woman's role to buy presents for both families. Women are bridge builders, relationship maintainers, providers of that all important social glue. On the whole, and with exceptions, we're better at it and more interested in it.

It's the same with boys and girls in the playground.

I will now calmly await slaughter.

magicfarawaytree · 20/10/2005 21:36

....Its got a lovely fabric trim inside, brass handles on each side, a lockable roof and its own nuclear bunker. And when I get her into it and I m going to have it lowered in the bunker and covered up and then I am going to dance on it

Roobie · 20/10/2005 22:00

I must admit I do buy all the presents, including dh's family - otherwise everyone would end up with complete crap that I would be embarrassed to put my name to!

spidermama · 20/10/2005 22:01

Same here roobie. My dh buys the most unbelievable load of shite if left to his own devices.

Passionkiller · 20/10/2005 22:02

We are super lucky this year, I won a set of placemats with a ghastly picture of a crab on them at a raffle. They will do for her as she always buys me and DD's the most horrid cheap and inappropriate stuff. Even DH agrees that they are perfect for her.