Perfect gift for the very elderly

[mickeyd]

When my folks were alive and Christmas and birthdays rolled around we always had a devil of a time thinking up a good Christmas gift(s) for Mom and Dad. One day while visiting them I had occasion to pick up their mail and as I was walking back from the mail box I casually leafed thru the mail and noticed a phone bill and an electric bill.

BINGO! From that point on any gift that I wished to send them was not another shirt, not another pretty scarf, not a box of candy, not Omaha Steaks but I would send the phone company a check to apply to their account and also would send money to the electric company to apply to their bill. I would print up a (Large Print) notice from the computer and sign it. They loved it.

 

[FIRE'd@51]

Good suggestion! A few years ago I gave my Mom one of those MCI calling cards from Costco (only 2.86 cents/minute). I programmed the 800 number and the PIN into her speed dialer. Then on subsequent birthdays or Christmas (or maybe in between if her minutes are running low), I add minutes to her balance.

 

[REWahoo]

When my parents were in their 80's and rarely left the house except to go to the grocery store or the doctor, my siblings and I were at a loss for gift ideas. Then we heard my dad grouse about the cost of cable TV and we had our solution. The four of us all put in enough cash to pre-pay their cable bill for a year. Every month they got a bill saying they owed nothing, a nice reminder of our gift.

 

[Martha]

One year we got my inlaws each silk pajamas. A luxury they never would have bought for themselves. They were well used.

 

[Goonie]

For Christmas, I usually get my Mom (who will soon be 80) a "Travel Certificate" from one of the groups she travels with. There is one local tour company we travel with quite often, and I'll call them up and have them sign her up for day trips she likes, or a multi-day trip that I know she'd enjoy....and I grab the tab!!! 8)

My shopping was easy...and she is thrilled with the "Gift of Go"!!!

 

[TromboneAl]

Just remember this rule: Never buy your parents anything that was invented after 1945.

 

[Outtahere]

To add to Al's rule, Don't buy your parents anything you wouldn't want back.


Stepmom had been going through the closets and attic the past couple years. She keeps pulling out gifts we (us kids) gave them over the years, items they never used, and giving them back to us. My brother's comment was " if I'd known I was going to get this stuff back I'd have bought better gifts".