I think we have one of these every year.
My mom is at independent living, the in laws at home. Neither gets out too much. I am out of ideas. They have plenty of robes and slippers
I recently brought my DCs potential future in-laws some locally crafted bread loaves. Faccocia and sour dough loaves. They were a big hit.
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Aura frame. It is seriously the only present my mom has liked. We gave another one to my 93 year old cousin, and she loved it too. It’s almost like TV for my mother, as we’ve set the photos to chang every couple of minutes. They are a little pricey, but really worth the $$.
Here’s a link – and it even is on sale!! (It’s a true sale price, I remember it was close to $200 when we bought it).
Limited-time deal: Aura Digital Picture Frame - 10.1" HD Mat Display | Wirecutter’s Best Digital Frame for Gifting - Send Photos Directly from Your Phone from Anywhere | Quick & Easy Setup Over WiFi - Free App | Black https://a.co/d/4yJaZ42
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That’s an idea. We have the Facebook portal one and I find it difficult to load pictures on. And I’m way more techie that either of the parties.
Also my in laws WiFi is bad to nonexistent. We’ve tried to get it better with an extender but it didn’t work. Mostly because my fil can’t remember his WiFi password
Can’t help on the wifi front, but I am NOT a techie, and the Aura frame is incredibly easy to set up/add photos.
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While I think the aura frame is a nice idea I’m thinking nothing that resembles anything technical.
It’s just too anxiety inducing at this stage
Hand or foot massager? Bedside valet stand?
Got it. For anyone else reading this, though, there is literally nothing the recipient has to do. The frame even turns itself on and off every day (dark = off).
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My mom has a skylight frame, and keeps it plugged in and on 24/7 – easy peasy for her.
We got her two magazine subscriptions. She seems to like those? hard to tell, but it is mail and she can share the issues with other people.
amaryllis can be inexpensive and are fun to watch, require very little care.
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A nice pair of bedroom slippers with nonslip soles? Nice to get a fresh pair.
Can you take them out for a meal or movie around the holiday season? That may be better than a physical gift.
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We stocked the freezer with premade meals - both homemade and store bought. One year we did a monthly meal delivery from Omaha Steaks (not steaks, but pre made meals and desserts) plus frozen cookie dough and they could make a few cookies at a time. We also would decorate and clean up for the holidays including a wreath, poinsettias etc.
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This reminds me of the Fruit of the Month Club on Everybody Loves Raymond. Our family loves this scene. Personally, I’d love something like that!
OP, you say that they don’t go out much. Would they like to? When they did what kinds of things did they like to do?
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Do they like fresh flowers? We gave someone a monthly flower arrangement for a year, and they loved it.
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We bought MIL, possibly the most technically unsavvy woman on earth, an Aura frame three years ago. She loves it. She doesn’t have to do anything to it other than plug it in.
She has been spending more & more time in her recliner, and she’s always cold. Last year, we bought her a Barefoot Dreams blanket - not the kind you can buy at Nordstrom Rack, but the biggest throw blanket they have. It’s great, because it covers her completely. I found one in their clearance section that was a discontinued color, so it was marked down. It’s her favorite blanket - so soft and cuddly. I had given my mom a BD robe years ago, and she adored it, so I figured my MIL would like the blanket (I was right).
This year, we have no clue what to get her.
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This may sound dumb but we got my mom a photo frame like the aura and we found we would go to her house and find it unplugged because mom couldn’t understand why you would leave an electronic device plugged in 24/7 and waste electricity? 
I often just bought my mom some special food items that she could or wouldn’t spend $ on - like a food gift basket. Specialty cheeses, artichokes, figs or high quality dates, coffee, etc
I know over time she enjoyed and used these products!
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lol, like turning the cell phone off when they aren’t using it! My mom can’t help herself turning things off when not using them.
I may resort to the food items because they don’t need anything, and don’t really consume much anymore.
My fil doesn’t really hear anymore and is cognitively going. Getting him out of the house is difficult and he doesn’t really want to get out so any “event” wouldn’t work. It’s too bad because we used to do these things for them but now it’s not possible.
Thanks for the ideas.
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For that generation, stamps are often appreciated. I like the special themed one, like National Parks or Sports Cars etc. For parents, it could be an “extra” gift. But for aunts/uncles and elderly friends it’s fun to slip in a book of stamps into a greeting card.
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This reminded me that we used to shop Trader Joe’s for my dad’s gifts. He really enjoyed having choices in the house.
Our wrapping of his gifts led to one of our family’s favorite stories:
I was wrapping the food items, our 3-4ish year old DC was bringing me items and taking the wrapped ones to DH for the bow. All was going well until we got to the pistachios. She commented “Grandpa’s got nuts!” I’m sure there was confusion as DH and I cracked up in laughter.
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The Aura frame has been my MIL’s favorite gift, ever. She adores it and watches it all the time from her recliner. We add new photos to it of her kids, grandkids and new great-grandbabies via our phones, from our homes, and she needs to do nothing. She gets so excited when she sees new pics come up! Seriously, the tech issue is a non-issue. It’s a fantastic way to give them connection to the outside world. Also, you can take pics of photos in their own collection of favorite memories and add them to the frame, so it is not just current photos but can be ones from their childhood, wedding, young family, favorite vacations - anything that makes them smile! I highly, highly recommend this items for aging parents! (And we love them too, we actually have 3 in our house and our kids each have one.)
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