Let’s list some of our favorite, most creative gifts. Maybe we can spark an idea for someone else.
Last year, and again this year, mom's getting an order from Omaha Steaks. She's 85, lives on her own. While we all check in on her, winters are hard. Stocking her freezer with protein means she doesn't have to go food shopping in the cold winter weather.
One year we had a Disney trip coming up the following summer. I got my husband Lunch with an Imagineer. He had a delicious lunch with a 5 or 6 others, and a young woman who was one of the Imagineers working on the new Test Track. He said it was fascinating. (I, of course, had the kids for the afternoon.)
One year, I contacted all my siblings, and all my husband's siblings, and got their memories of growing up. I typed them up, added some clip art, and put them into page protectors in a binder. I entitled it "Remember When..." and presented each of the moms (and each of the siblings) with a copy. ("Remember when the dog ate the instant mashed potatoes and Kelly thought the dog had rabies?" type of stuff.)
As fortune would have it, we dropped it off with my mother in law that Christmas Eve; she wasn't feeling well enough to sleep at our house as usual. My husband and son checked in on her, and left her the book to read that night. I don't know whether or not she did, because she passed away in her sleep that night. But we buried it with her, and got some comfort over the idea that she died with a head and heart full of warm memories of her kids' childhoods.
OK, on to a happier note:
When my older daughter was 13, I contacted a local beauty school. For $15 a head, a bunch of the moms at work and I got our kids a lesson on how to apply makeup. It was cheap enough that we each allowed our kids to bring a friend. We printed up certificates and wrapped them. The girls loved it, and all do a great job of applying makeup at a time when too many of their friends thought that more was much better.
@bjkmom - I think you are right that your MIL probably passed on with smiles and a warm heart.
Gave H a Liberty puzzle of fav vacation pix. It became a nightly routine that when he came home from work, we would have a glass of wine and work on puzzle.
I mentioned this in one of the other threads about gifts, but last year I gave my adult D a “coffee bar”-travel mug, varied ground coffee, creamers, flavored syrups, and a coffee maker with a timer, auto shut-off, and the ability to press a button to dispense rather than brew a whole pot OR use those little pod things. She loved it.
My dad loved the holidays, and used to book a sleigh ride for the entire family, kids, grand kids, even his mother (who’d grown up having to ride in a sleigh in the middle of winter in the Midwest and refused to go). If there was no snow that year, it would be on a wagon, and would finish with hot apple pie and hand-churned ice cream the kids made. The first Christmas after he passed, I booked the same ride, and sketched a drawing of a winter trails with a sleigh, then cut it into puzzle pieces and have a piece to each family member. There were many tears as they put it together and realized the gift.
I suspect my gift to my older kids will be a hit this year. Somehow I did not know that there are real-life “escape” or “puzzle” rooms, where you have to work together to follow clues to get out of a locked room. There are even some in Seattle, so when I learned about this game, I decided to get a gift certificate for them to go-they’re always talking about going on Amazing Race or similar, so I think they’ll enjoy it. Tickets are really affordable so I can get them other little things they want too.
For H, a favorite gift was a signed baseball from one of his Negro League heroes. But his favorite gift EVER was the Han Solo in carbonite mini-fridge that I gave him last year. It lights up just like it looks in the movie-it stops people in their tracks at his job.
One of my siblings gave our mom four paintings of her house (where she still lives and we all grew up), one for each season, done by a painter who used a photograph of the house as the “model” for the paintings.
I got a Kitchenaid standing mixer for my equipment-averse mother who loves to bake. Nearing 80, she did not have enough strength to knead dough, yet was suspicious of the help the Kitchenaid would offer. (She’s also cheap and the price scared her.) Let’s just say, the mixer was life-changing for her.
This year, my in-laws will get what I hope will be their favorite gift. Along with their other children, we’re getting them a service that delivers restaurant-quality food to their door. MIL just isn’t up to cooking anymore, and we, their kids and kids-in-law simply can’t allow them to live on frozen meals and fast food.
Some GENIUS here on CC suggested munchery, based in the SF Bay Area, where inlaws live. Fingers crossed that the gift will be as appreciated and effective as we think it might be.
My favorites were to my DH. One was a surprise Ambassadair day trip to ski in Colorado,maid for his brother too! The other was a surprise Vegas trip on his birthday one year.
Years ago a friend in the Netherlands sent me a very small (3" x 3" ) old etching that she liked and thought I would like. Though she paid hardly anything for it, it ended up being by Rembrandt. A later edition, but off the original plate and still worth some serious money. I still love it. I reciprocated by sending her an oil painting of her house which I did from a photograph. Strangely enough she loved it. Since then I have given other friends and neighbors paintings and watercolors of their houses. People seem pretty happy with them.
Dh gave me kitchen shears because he was tired of me “opening things with my teeth”. My grandfather worked for a certain company back in the 20’s, and for my father one year I wrote to the company and they sent me a box of company-logo items and a copy of my grandfather’s employee ID.
Best present ever was the year all the family learned to play Christmas carols on our various instruments, and we “gave” it to my mom for an afternoon concert. I think the kids ranged from 11 to 18, plus us and our SO’s all play something. It was wonderful, and just awful enough to be funny.
Last summer my sisters and I were discussing how Mom and Dad didn’t need/want any more stuff. We came up with a Christmas idea of an family trip to the city to see Lion King and having dinner at restaurant where my folks used to go when they were dating. Tickets were purchased and reservations made several months in advance.
Since making the arrangements, we’ve found out Dad is terminally ill. Play is next week and it looks like he may still be healthy enough to attend. Expect an evening with sons, daughters, and grandchildren will be one appreciated present. Now our goal is not to get too teary eyed.
marlene–You will have a fabulous time! It will be an experience that everyone will always remember! No tears! Save those for later-enjoy the evening to the absolute fullest. Live in the moment.
Like OP, one year my sis and I listed all sorts of childhood memories on cards (tied like gifts) and put them in a huge jar to have one chosen daily. It was a definite hit. Time-consuming but fun. Start early.
For parent’s 50th anniversary I got all their neighbors and friends to send me a note/picture/good wishes to go in a scrap book album I had to look up addresses on the internet. Had a wonderful response! Again, start early!
I’ve done a personalized business card case this year–you can put whatever artwork/photo and/or text on it you want–about 20 dollars from Zazzle. Hope it comes out!
Thinking about an office supply box with all the odd sort of goodies in it–double stick tape, laminating supplies, tacky strip, cool file folders, cord keepers, tiny bungie cords etc. Anything new and fun I can find. Something beyond just tape and staplers.
The puzzle rooms are sometimes called Escape or Panic Room. They have been springing up all over the place so you may just want to google those terms and the name of a nearby town and see if there one near you.
@sseamom and @gouf78 - we have done two puzzle rooms as a family and they are a blast. The last one we did in Chicago had a chained zombie in it. That really added to the room. Everyone helps find the clues and it is a great activity. Have fun!
Up until about a year ago , my relationship with my step-daughter was really strained. Unfortunately , it took a terminal illness and ultimately death in her family ( her grandmother ) to bring us closer.
She has really had a hard time dealing with her grief . Her childhood was pretty turbulent with an unstable mother, so her grandmother was a mother figure to her.
Her grandfather died in a freak accident about 10 years ago too, so to say that it has hot her hard doesn’t begin to describe it.
This Christmas, I am giving her a water color painting of her grandparents that I painted for her .
I hope she enjoys it