What would you get your ageing parents for Christmas if they have everything and you have

[applegrove]

no money. I thought chocolate but I am trying to feed my parents healthier food these days. What are your getting your parents as a holiday gift?

[rug]

1. A new will.

[Wait Wut]

37. omg.

That was awful and your karma has just been pinged for 35 points for making me laugh at something so sick.

[Frosty1]

2. Why not make them some homemade candy?

There are some killer recipes out there for Fudge or Divinity or Peanut brittle.

[Frosty1]

3. A fruit basket?

With a couple of pieces of each kind of fruit.

[russspeakeasy]

29. Was "killer recipes" intentional.

Even if it wasn't , thanks for the laugh.

[Frosty1]

38. OMG

It was totally unintentional. What a dumb thing for me to say! Now that you point it out it is kind of funny even though I wasn't trying to be.

[melonkali]

4. Something aesthetically sweet or sentimental?

Something they can look at, and it makes them smile, or reminds them of you or something they like?

[graywarrior]

5. A supermarket gift card?

Or a supply of something they use all the time?

[Staph]

6. My sister, who is a little tight on funds this year,

is fixing a big family dinner for our mother, at Mom's house. The present for Mom is all of the extended family together, and she doesn't have to cook!

Mom loves it!

[pink-o]

7. Write them an IOU

IOU a couple hours of house cleaning, driving you to the supermarket/dentist/doctor, a picnic lunch in the park come warmer weather, well you get the pic. My dad is 88 and he's been widowed going on 5 years now. I bought him a Kindle Fire for the holidays, but more than that he loves it when I spend time with him. Your parents want that more than anything as they get older, material things mean less and less as life goes on.

And honestly: I was never as close to my dad as I was to my mother. If she'd been the surviving parent, it would have been easy to hang out all the time with her. Dad and I have had a rougher relationship, he's very conservative loves Faux news and gets more afraid of foreigners trying to rip him off as the years go by. Sometimes I just wanna scream. So I understand that spending time with parents can drive you crazy, but remember we did the same to them when we were younger. Turnabout fair play, right?

[Kali]

18. I'm pretty sure applegrove is full time caregiver of both her parents right now

so she is already giving this tremendous gift.

[stevedeshazer]

8. The gift of time.

Spend time with them. Share pictures and memories.

They will love you for it more than anything you could buy them.

Since my parents are no longer living, I miss them and wish I had spent more time with them.

[Justice wanted]

9. I'd make something homemade. Perhaps make them dinner for a week. A homemade coupon book

with things that you'll do for them thoughout the next year.

If you do have a few dollars make some cookies or like a friend of mine did for her Grandmother, she got a hold of some little orphan annie radio clips online and downloaded them on a disc for her grandmother to re-live her childhood.

[MichiganVote]

10. Can you afford a photo album? Most agers have a boatload of

old photos. Take some time to put together a nice album of their old friends and family. It will give them pleasure.

[rurallib]

11. What I would love if my kids were close

bring a game we all enjoy, the fixings for something like pizza on a Saturday or Sunday and spend the day.

[OhioBlue]

12. A scrap book or an picture frame

with an insert that looks like a scrap book page

My dad's 2 favorite gifts from me - a scrap book for his 60th birthday with pictures and stories from family and friends and a picture frame that I gave him one year for father's day with pictures of his family in a scrapbook like setting.

[kentauros]

13. Mostly the same as last year: biscotti and

this year, truffles. I'll be buying supplies over the weekend

But, this is not something that doesn't cost money. If you really don't want to spend any of your own money, offer to cook their holiday dinner, and pamper them while you're there (or they're at your place, however it works in your family.)

[applegrove]

15. I'll try and cook rack of lamb for them. It is my turn to cook the turkey but I just

can't get my head around it. So I asked my brother and he agreed to do it for me. But yeah. Lobster, rack of lamb, something like that I'll do.

[kentauros]

17. I'm the last person to ask advice on how to cook meat.

Even when I ate it, I was lousy at shopping for it, much less preparing it. I'm sure you know this, but ask in the Cooking & Baking group if you don't know how to cook something. They're like an online cooking library!

[Chan790]

16. I bought books.

It's becoming my thing. I'm the only one in my family with any literary taste or sense so they read an author or subject until they've read everything by them, then they stop reading until I shove something new in their faces...to wit, my mother, Stephen King and assorted Gothic horror; my brother D and Kurt Vonnegut; my stepfather and books on the 1960s New York Yankees...so it falls to me to bridge those gaps and expand their universes literarily...to wit, "Well since you like King and Dickens maybe you should try Dan Simmons."

Yes, I know Dan Simmons is a raging psycho birther teabagger. Drood is still one hell of a novel and he's no more batshit than Orson Scott Card.

[beac]

19. A donation gift

Feeding America (http://help.feedingamerica.org/site/PageServer?pagename=GiftCatalog) and Oxfam America (http://www.oxfamamericaunwrapped.com) have some good options in their "gift catalogs", many under $25.

My family has been gifting donations instead of presents for the past few years b/c we all have plenty of stuff and enough food, so the collective amount we would have spent on things we don't need now goes to help people who really do need things.

[Kali]

20. are there pets in the house? I know you have a cat

but maybe a small tank with some goldfish? they are soothing and fun to watch, really easy to care for - can tolerate less than perfect water, don't need heat etc - a nice change of pace from the tee vee and you can set up a 5 or 10 gal with a couple small feeder gold fish for under 50 dollars, I am sure. They might get a kick out of it and that would be an unusual gift for an older person!

and the cat would probably enjoy it too

I am giving my father and his wife homemade goodies plus a perfect steak for him and a nice piece of fish for her - frozen - that they can grill themselves when they feel like it.

[CottonBear]

21. Spend time with them. It's a gift to both of you!

I have found that pictures in those plastic picture frames that have a magnet on the back are a good gift. They can put the latest picture of the grandkid(s) on the fridge. You can pick up these magnetic frames at the dollar store or the grocery store.

[Bucky]

22. grandchildren?

[Taverner]

23. Write them a letter

Do something creative with said letter

[treestar]

32. Yes, they'd love things like

childhood memories of their children - or even to have their own stories written down.

I once went to the Recorder of Deeds and made a title search on my grandparents' house. Did this for my parents, too. There is interesting local history to that - at least the people I did it for seemed to like it. They can look at the deeds of the people who had their property in the 1700s. Kind of cool.

[one_voice]

24. How about a picture collage...

of their life together. Or a have a dvd made with the pictures. Cook them a nice meal and watch the dvd after dinner--you could reminisce and it's something they could pull out and watch again.

It doesn't cost much to transfer pictures to a dvd, and it's something they'll have for a long time.

My parents have everything so my brothers and sister are all pitching in to get three rooms painted for them. The rooms need it, they love the idea, and it won't cost too much. Luckily I have a friend that's a painter and is giving me a great price.

[treestar]

31. This is a good idea

There are a lot of computer programs where you can make something nice, too. We have a lot of movies - one family member loves to go through old photos and add music. New photos, too. Memories of vacations or holidays or just little movies on one person, on the parents' married life.

[MiddleFingerMom]

25. My folks were between 65 and 70 years old when I got them one of these for about $15-$20...

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... in the late-80's.
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They LOVED it and used to turn all the lights down low and just zone out on it
like two septuagenarian stoners.
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I think it was excellent for them, both mentally and physically and aesthetically,
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[applegrove]

26. That is a good idea. I, myself, loved those when I was a kid. I remember one time

visiting my housekeepers home. Her daughter had one in her bedroom and I touched it because I could not resist. Of course it started to get all off balance and fell to the ground. I was found out for the snoop I was. LOL! Dad would like it. Mom not so much. I think I'll get them some flowers. They enjoyed the last bunch I gave them.

[Jamastiene]

27. My mother specifically said she wanted chocolate covered cherries for Christmas.

So, that's what I'll get her. If she didn't want them, though, I would probably get her some bird seed or a bag of corn on the cob (for feeding the squirrels and birds) or another hummingbird feeder and some more food. A person can never have too many hummingbird feeders.

[elleng]

28. Honeybelles

(in January or February, when available; favorite of my Dad's)

[xmas74]

30. Make some bird food

(a sample recipe at the link: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Nature-Community/2007-11-01/Winter-Bird-Food-Recipes.aspx )


Also, maybe do a bit of research online about birds that can be found locally this time of year. You can print out the pages with pics included, bind them into a book or folder and present them with the food. It's inexpensive and could be quite a bit of fun, watching the birds fly through your yard and eating.

[Xipe Totec]

33. My presence.

[LiberalEsto]

34. Give them a coupon to do some work around their house

Offer to paint something, fix something, plant something, sort and label old photos, clean the attic, take stuff to a donation center, that kind of thing.

I would LOVE a gift like that.

[riderinthestorm]

35. Music. Can you burn some CD's of some oldies?

My parents are in their late seventies but they love the old teevee and radio shows. If you can't burn some CD's, try to take some time to download some of the old classic shows from their day. It's usually free - I Love Lucy, Gracie and Allen, the Honeymooners, gosh the list is endless. Then watch the programs with them so they can reminisce.

My dad loves old VHS tapes of orchestral performances: I can find old Boston Pops VHS tapes at Goodwill and he LOVES watching them. Are your parents musical? Do they play an instrument? Old sheet music of favorite hymns, jazz, big band etc. are always a hit.

Once, when I was really broke I spent the afternoon sketching them. I have never had an art class in my life, I never draw, I CAN'T draw, but spending that time drawing a portrait, really focusing on their faces, was truly touching (even if the results were awful). They craved the attention.

Foot or facial massages are always a hit. Old people LOVE tactile touch. They don't get enough of it honestly. Paint toenails or fingernails. Give them a temporary tattoo. Has Mom always wanted to be a biker chick? Get her a temporary Hells Angel tat.... Anything that really touches them....

Good luck, you are doing fine

[virgogal]

36. Give them time. Lots and lots of time.

[RebelOne]

39. I am an aging parent, but I will be happy with cash. n/t

[unpopular]

41. Spam deleted by William769 (MIR Team)

[shanti]

40. pj's

that's what i got mom. nice, warm, flannel. she loved them.