<p>I have been thinking for a while a great gift to give my parents for graduation, but I do not know what a parent would most appreciate. And with only seven days left before graduation, I’m not sure anything that I could order would arrive in time.</p>
<p>I was just posing this question to see if many other students give graduation presents to their parents to thank them and, if so, what would a parent most appreciate. Would a parent to happy to just be able to see their son graduate or does the gift make it more meaningful?</p>
<p>What a delightful, thoughtful post. No material gift is needed; a letter or nice card is perfect. My daughter gave me the Stole of Gratitude, complete with her handwritten expression of thanks - do you get a Stole of Gratitude with your graduation attire?</p>
<p>Best present is no longer having to pay tuition. And a nice letter would be appreciated, perhaps with a framed photo of you and parents at college.</p>
<p>I echo the most important idea: write them a personal letter of appreciation. </p>
<p>In addition, if they belong to a civic or religious organization or any charity that accepts donations in honor of various occasions, you can send that group a small contribution saying a phrase, such as: “Expressing love and appreciation to my parents, XX and XX, upon my graduation from X school, from X (your name).”</p>
<p>Call ahead to find out the minimum amount of contribution, or if there are levels.</p>
<p>The parents should receive a card acknowledging your contribution, although it might take some weeks to be mailed. On your graduation day, you can mention that you’ve already done this, to honor and thank them…so it isn’t too late. THey’ll know they raised you with good values. </p>
<p>The acknowledgment card won’t say exactly how much you donated. Sometimes their names will be listed in the organization’s regular newsletter (call and ask them), but it depends on the organization. If so, your parents get to be extra proud in front of their friends who also belong to that organization or charitable cause.</p>
<p>Oldest D just graduated from the honors program of our StateU. She bought me a gold charm of the school’s mascot and her father a bronze “paperweight” for his desk of the mascot - the Jayhawk. She also wrote us each a lengthy note of thanks. She included things on mine such as thanking me for making “care packages” for her and her roommates for all the holidays for four years, for calling her when she had phone duty at her scholarship hall or if she was working late as the receptionist at the honors building so she wouldn’t be lonely, etc. She thanked us for paying her tuition, room & board, etc. so she would not have to leave college in debt. She thanked us for all the 3 hour trips to hear her sing in the choir (one of the ECs she did for no credit), for attending Mom’s day at the schol hall, etc. She told us that she knew she would not have been as successful at school if it had not been for our support and encouragement. </p>
<p>She didn’t need to do it, but I can tell you, it meant the world to us.</p>
<p>Oops! I just realized you were talking about high school graduation! I agree that the heartfelt note would be a wonderful gift! Maybe with your own cash you could purchase them a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in your town that they could use after you are gone away to college!</p>
<p>DD left a note to us on her pillow…that we didn’t actually know was there until returning from dropping her off her freshman year of college. It was the best gift she could have given us. And the surprise of finding it there after she left was even nicer. You might want to consider that.</p>
<p>Wow, what a wonderfully thoughtful person to be thinking of your parents at a time when everyone else is focusing on your own transition.
Nothing is as good as a heartfelt letter. Your parents will keep it forever. Flowers, restaurants, etc they can get for themselves. A permanent record of your thoughts and thanks is something only you can give.</p>
<p>Speaking of pictures or poems, depending on how public your folks are, you might also consider drawing them a picture or poem that’s manageable for them in public, then have it silkscreened onto a t-shirt or mug.</p>
<p>Imagine wearing that at their company picnic, or using it at their work desk!</p>
<p>That might influence how you write it, of course; so maybe 2 written products, one for public consumption and the other private.</p>
<p>I’m sure you can be much deeper with a privately cherished letter :)</p>
<p>Write them a letter expressing your appreciation for their parenting, and then plan a day in which you can spend time with them doing their favorite activities. As students head off to college, parents usually want to spend time with their kids, so the gifts of time and appreciation would be wonderful ways of expressing your love to your parents.</p>
<p>Well, having just graduated from college, I would give them a simple thank you note but really the best thing you can do for them to continue your success through college and be someone who they can be very proud of.</p>
<p>As my grandmother says when I thank her for her time, “See? This is why I love doing this and would never want to miss this- you make me proud!” (by “this” she meant just taking care of me and watching me grow up). With that, what could I do? Just keep going!</p>
<p>You’re going off to Princeton? Its enough for a lot of parents out there! :)</p>
<p>Go with the letter, it will be saved and cherished forever. No one else can write the letter you can, anything material can be obtained elsewhere (and any money spent is likely to come from them, if only indirectly).</p>
<p>The letter is great (I got one and every time my kid gives me grief I go and read it again…). </p>
<p>You can also find tee-shirts with “Princeton Mom” and “Princeton Dad” on them - if not from the college bookstore, you can easily have them made. </p>
<p>If your parents have a good sense of humor, you can make them a freedom basket - gourmet coffee/mugs, an off-color magazine, a broken alarm clock, a CD of music from their generation, stamped envelopes to send you money at school, etc.</p>
<p>Like all of the parents here, I am in the “thank you from the heart” mode, rather than something you order.</p>
<p>My suggestion for a possible variation is to make a slide show or video of family memories from your school years - a montage, in essence, of those first day of kindergarten, first day on the bus, soccer game, spelling bee, orchestra concert, etc. photos and videos.</p>
<p>Often you kids have the skills to put something like this together, add music etc… that the parents couldn’t do themselves but would treasure.</p>
<p>A note is just as good, btw; I’m just brainstorming other related ideas.</p>
<p>Wow, what a sensitive kid you are! Your parents obviously did something right. Just let them know how much you appreciate all of the sacrifices that they’ve made and how much you value their love. Maybe you could write a nice heartfelt note using fancy paper. Whatever you do, don’t type it or worse yet, e-mail it to them. They will cherish a handwritten note from you forever!</p>
<p>Just thought of this - a variation on what jmmom suggested - </p>
<p>At our oldest D’s recent college graduation, we sat next to a family at the chancellor’s lunch. A lovely girl (obvious from the accent - an international) gave the graduate (obviously her boyfriend) a book that had photos and text relating to his four years at the university. She said she did the whole thing online and received it in about a week. You could do the same thing using pictures of yourself, your parents and other family, friends, etc., inserting your own text, which could essentially be the same things you would have written in a letter. The book was really well done - couldn’t believe she did it online! Here are a few I found by Googling “make a book online” - I am sure there are many more!</p>