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Talk It Out:
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"I'm
looking forward to the responses to the grandparent gift
question. My mom recently sold her condo and has moved in
with my sister. The last thing she needs is more stuff!
Walmart gift cards are good for personal hygiene products or oil
changes or other car maintenance. She loves sporting event
tickets. I bought her the study Bible she'd been wanting
for her birthday but we had talked about getting her a massage
and/or manicure. She belongs to a women's gym so gift
certificates from the gym or prepaying her membership is
something we've thought of doing. She loves to travel to visit
family, so gift cards from gasoline chains like Pilot are a good
choice." ~ Cindy "My
husband and I ARE the grandparents. Some non-cluttering gifts
we enjoy are: I hope
this helps!" ~ Kathy "We
have given my mom and her husband gift certificates to eat
out, to the gas station for gas, car washes, milk,
bread...the sunday paper...This is always well-received by
them. When my mother-in- law was alive I always gave
them a gift certificate to the grocery store. She loved
this." ~ Sandy "How
about movie theater passes? You can buy these at a discount
through AAA Auto Club if you are a member." ~ Candy "The best gift a family member can give me is taking me out for a meal. It doesn't matter if it is fast food or a nice restaurant. Just the time we have together means so much. Before my husband passed away, we went out to eat at least once a week, mostly for fast food. Restaurants were saved for special days like birthdays and anniversaries. I miss that and I don't like to eat out by myself. The second best gifts are gift certificates to local stores. My house is small, so I don't have room for many trinkets." ~ Anne My in-laws have plenty of money and can buy what they need easily. I hit on THE gift when my husband and I made the effort to fly from California to Louisiana for their 50th anniversary. They were so delighted. But, also, I brought my camera and approached the party like a photographer, photographing table centerpieces, the cake, each and every guest, etc. I came home and made a scrapbook album for them using mostly supplies I had in my stash. They loved it, and showed everyone, then reported back to me each time they shared their album. The next opportunity for a gift (Mother's/Father's Day) we found a 'Name' shop. We had each of their names and meanings printed up, bought an etched glass frame with spots for 3 5x7 photos, and had one of the anniversary photos enlarged. Their names and the photo occupied the 3 spots. Again, they loved it so much they asked me to have one made for their aunt and uncle's 75th anniversary! Here we
are again, with Mother's/Father's Day approaching. I
found a gal who makes quilts using photos. I sent her
pictures, and she sent a quilt...lovely! I
guess what I'm saying is that any gift that surrounds them
with memories and family seems to be more precious than
gold." ~ Eva "Each Christmas
we send the grandparents a family picture--we had already
purchased a frame and send them the same size each year. We
also gave them a photo album to put the old pictures in so
they can see how our family has grown and changed.
Once a year, we also send them a picture of each of the kids
individually and a group shot of the kids." ~ Michelle "I
few years ago for Christmas I came up with an idea
for mine and my brother's grandmother (my daughter's
great-grandmother). With having had so many years of
being showered with gifts from loved ones, and with the
fact that she's on a fixed income, we went for the more
practical, yet still heart-felt gift. We gave her gift
certificates and a poem that I made up about how much
she means to us. It also explained about each of
the gift certificates: one for pampering herself at her
favorite beauty salon, one for groceries at her usual
grocery store, one for a few dinners at one of her
favorite restaurants, and one for whatever she needed or
wanted at Wal-mart. It really touched her that we
had put so much thought into her gift. Plus it
helped her be able to not worry about coming up with the
money for some of the 'extras' that a fixed income
doesn't always allow." ~ Morgan "This
may be considered clutter but the grandparents in our
family love it. Go to Kinko's and order a calendar with
a different photo of the grandchild for each month of
the year. I try to match the month with a photo (i.e. in
her Halloween costume for the month of October) and
I give this to them for Christmas each year. My parents
hang this on the wall in their kitchen and love to see
my daughter's smiling face every day." ~ Suzie "This Christmas past, our son and his family gave cash towards a third world project for families. When our younger son saw our delight, he too decided that is what he would do, too. It was such a wonderful 'gift' helping someone in great need in our name. If we all did something like that each year, Christmas would be so much more meaningful." ~ Eileen "A
great gift idea for grandparents, especially those who
have problems with writing or vision, is address
labels in a large font. This includes both return
labels and labels for their routine contacts.
Type the labels in a plain, large, easy-to-read font
using your computer and print on purchased sheets
of blank labels. Contacts can include family members,
friends and others. I like to do a sheet or half-sheet
of labels for each contact. Organize them in a file or
notebook for easy access. Including a book of stamps
can be an added bonus! You could take this idea
a step farther by purchasing them a box of quality
all-purpose cards and presenting it to them with the
labels." ~ Cathy "My
in-laws live in a small retirement apartment and have
little room for clutter. When I buy or make them a
gift I try and give them something that I know they
will use and that will not last. Some items I have
given them in the past include baked items,
chocolates, stationary, needed clothing items,
flowers, bulbs (that their kids have planted) to enjoy
on their patios, hanging plants (fuschias, etc).
Another thing we have done is given them items to
enjoy outside like new lawn chairs, bird bath, feeder,
or house, and seasonal flowers." ~ Donna "Grandparents get the same gift from our family every year for the past 10 years: a personalized photo album. The album tells the story of what we as a family have done, where we have gone, and documents school, sporting events and birthdays for the past year. It eliminates all the loose pictures and becomes a family heirloom." ~ GG "We
have bought year-long memberships to the local
theater. We also bought weekend trips to a ballgame
in another city inclusive of the hotel reservations
and made sure there is a shuttle from the hotel to
the places where they may want to go so they don't
have to drive in the 'big city'. We've bought
tickets to concerts that they will enjoy, we've
gotten landscaping items they've wanted and
installed them, etc. These types of gifts have gone
over very well with our parents." ~ Janice "I’m sure lots of others do this, but I’ll send in this suggestion anyway just in case. My elderly mother lives on a fixed income, so she really enjoys a gift basket filled with 'little luxuries' she might not get for herself, such as the brand of instant coffee she likes but is more expensive than the store brand she buys, teabags, little packages of gourmet cookies and crackers, special seasonings, sauces, and marinades to perk up everyday meals, etc. She also appreciates a decorated grocery bag filled with staples like flour, sugar, baking powder, cornmeal, nuts, flaked coconut, cocoa, chocolate chips, vanilla, spices, oils, and other baking/cooking necessities. She has plenty of knickknacks, lotions, soaps, picture frames, etc., so these 'consumables' are a big hit." ~ Jill "Many
gifts we give are the non-cluttering kind.
Christmas gifts included magazine subscriptions,
certificate for a free night stay at a hotel chain
that can be used anytime, theatre tickets, the
usual gift cards, restaurant certificates, and
edible homemade goodies." ~ Kathy "My
family is lucky enough to have both sets of
grandparents close by, so we get to spend time
with them. During this time I 'people watch'. I
know this may sound weird, but it has given me
great gift ideas.
Editor's Note: Thanks to everyone who took the time to respond. |