My dad isn’t doing anything (per usual)
She’s very minimalist
She likes earrings and puzzles and books but isn’t a collector.
Any ideas
My dad isn’t doing anything (per usual)
She’s very minimalist
She likes earrings and puzzles and books but isn’t a collector.
Any ideas
Comments
My suggestion: get her something she can do with you. For example, a cooking class or a weekend trip to a local resort. That’s what I’d like!
how much do you want to spend?
Spend a day with her doing whatever you can afford and enjoy. Make new memories.
Record a video with family and friends each telling something fun or interesting about your Mom or something they did together or what they like about her
I got my mum a photo book through Shutterfly. I included photos from her childhood through granmotherhood. She loves it and keeps it on her coffee table to look at.
Your time
Take her for lunch then a Mani/Pedi somewhere nice.
Would your father step up and let you plan a trip w/ the family to NYC. See a show, go to the Met, afternoon tea. Cloisters is gorgeous. My husband and three sons surprised me for Mother’s Day w/ a weekend in NYC. Meant a lot they planned this trip and spent time w/ me. My kids are adults and the fact they traveled to see me was the best gift.
If dad refuses the you plan something special w/ your mom. Dad doesn’t get to join in if he can’t make an effort. Any gardens, museums, wine tasting or hiking. Spa day and lunch? You are a thoughtful child and just spending time together is the best gift. Plus a card and if you can afford a small gift then great.
A memory! (Of an experience together).
When I turned seventy, both my kids and their spouses plus my husband went on a weekend trip with me. We went dogsledding!
It was an incredible memory and I treasure that more than any gift
I love my iPad mini. I can read on it, watch my shows while I’m having a bath, communicate with my friends, listen to music and podcasts, and it’s small enough that I can carry it in my purse. I know you can do those things on your phone, but I find my phone too small. I have an Apple Pencil too, so I can write and draw if I feel like it.
One thing that everyone recommends for oldsters like us (and I hope NO ONE EVER GETS ME ONE EVER) is the rotating picture frame. I hate those things so much and they seem to be a standard old-person present.
I gave my FIL an Aura photo frame. Then I sent instructions to the whole family on how to download the app and post photos. It’s cloud based so no limit on photos and the frame displays the most recent photos in a cycle.
He LOVED it. Let’s him be connected to the family photos we share.
Spend time with her. Plan a girls weekend or a girls day. Spa day? Long weekend somewhere cool? Really nice lunch, trip to a museum?
Have you asked her? Start there.
I’m 76. I treasure any experience with my family. I treasure the time and .empties we make together.
Spa day and lunch or dinner! My best gifts are time with my daughter.
Do Diamond Art with your Mom. You get to spend time with her and do a fun crafty project with her.
I’m 70 and absolutely love my photoframe. Kids can send pix at any time and we get to watch all of them daily.
Get her one of those digital photo albums and upload pics of her family and especially grandkids, great grandkids, etc. People that age loooove to reminisce and pour over old (and) new photos.
Time with you.
We reach a point where we are trying to shed stuff, so memories are a better way to go. Especially if you do a selfie every time you think of it throughout the event you planned (it doesn’t have to be involved). You can always delete the bad ones, so more is better
Do not spend money on her unless you take her to a movie, dinner, play…she needs NOTHING. She WANTS time with you. Not just on her birthday. She knows her time is limited and she wants to spend it with her kids and grandkids.
Can you take her on a cruise?
An adventure! There must be some place she’s never been that’s close to home.
Subscriptions seem to be the secret sauce with my mom. Have her on a never ending sees candy subscription and for Xmas I signed her up for a genre book subscription out of the UK in hopes she’d get titles she wouldn’t normally come across.
Spend some time with her – and look into the story worth prompts!
72 here and I agree, time spent that isn’t nagged for or coerced is a precious gift and I treasure it whenever I get it.
An Audible gift subscription is also a hit. I don’t need much because I live simply and what I buy for myself I want to pick out. I love listening to books when I’m doing tedious chores. I’m remodeling the downstairs kitchen and I’ve been listening to Game of Thrones. That’s a few hours of story time. 😀
I’m another senior who isn’t interested in a photo frame. I had one for a hot minute and I hated it. My past wasn’t always very pleasant (much better now, despite the ongoing cluster fuck) and I’d rather concentrate on the present.
Depends on your mom. My mom had 7 kids giving her gifts. She told me her favorite gift was one year I had her ride along to the plant nursery to pick up some vegetables for my garden.
She told me later that reminded her how much she missed her garden. We lived about 75 miles away from each other so I sent pictures.
A trip to somewhere she has always wanted to go.
Also look into unique experiences in your county. Sometimes locals don’t even know about them . in San Francisco we have a beautiful event called Flower Piano held at the Botanical Gardens. Many locals don’t know about the event.
A professional massage.
I called all of my grandmas living siblings and asked for their favorite picture from when they were kids. Then I got a nice frame and put all the pictures in it. Each one of the siblings put a hand written note in a card saying their memory of that photo.
You could do variations of this. Maybe with your siblings or cousins or even just your favorites over the years. But my grandma absolutely loved it and now that she’s passed, I have the frame hanging on my wall. Some pictures she didn’t even know existed.
A family photo shoot, something lasting for everyone.
Make her a hair appointment. Either that same day or within a day take her to lunch. Get her a corsage. Have a photo taken of the two of you at lunch. Have the photo printed and framed for her. Make arrangements for grocery delivery subscription.
I don’t know any women who doesn’t like to be pampered. If you can swing it get her a spa day, take her to much or dinner and make a day of it.
A spa day or massage or something like that if she’s into that and you can afford it.
Your time. The older I get, the more I want time with my family. No drama, no acting imposed upon, no snarky comments disguised as humor. Just enjoy each other’s company and be happy in the moment. It’s precious to us.
As someone close to that age, I can tell you the thing that I would treasure most would be a handwritten letter from my child telling me how much I mean to them and why – perhaps citing specific memories.
Don’t give your mom something that will just collect dust. Spend quality time with her.
Get her a book full of nostalgia. Something she can browse through for hours. Make it a Guinness book of World records or a history of rock and roll music or something that you know meant a lot to her in her youth. 70s rock and roll never dies. And memories are an unending source of joy.
Maybe an upscale spa day, where you both get pampered.
Do something fun with her. Take her to lunch and a book store, go for massages or manicures, build some fun memories. Are there any spring festivals in your area? Maybe take her to one on the weekend? Celebrate the milestone!
I threw a dinner party for my mom at a great steak restaurant with wonderful food, drinks and great wine for her favorite people (8 of us).
The next weekend, I had her friends from the office and neighbors and everyone else I could think of over to her house for a big shrimp boil and fish fry with lots of drinks and dancing.
Two different groups at two very different parties. Everyone got to enjoy and she really loved it all. She hasn’t had a birthday party since college.
A goddess photoshoot.
We took mom to Vegas for a few days for her 70th. She loved it.
I was part of the plan but had a baby just a few weeks before the trip so isn’t go—I helped with expenses.
My sisters said they find her at 3 am in the nickel slots, haha.
Time. I’m 62F, I’d much rather build memories that have stuff. We have family game night once a week with my older son and his family, last night it was Magic and we didn’t get home until midnight. We live 10 minutes away lol. Had a blast. Younger son and his wife are out of state so we visit and play games etc a few times a year, play online etc. Time well spent!
Spa Day? A fun lunch? A show? Special haircut and color? Take her to a jewelry show and buy her something special? Take her to a casino? Maybe a weekend away in a cabin? Where was her senior class trip to, maybe take her back?
My mom always complained about getting a good haircut. So I called a salon in her town and asked if I could pay for a really good haircut, mani, pedi- everything. They said sure.
Then I told them that she was quite elderly (I think this was for her 90th) and she was a bit of a piece of work, she was going to complain, and just ignore her and do what was best for her face, etc.
The woman said “oh she sounds like one of our regular clients”.
Yep, it was my mom. But since I was paying she got a full shampoo, cut, blow dry with all the nice things- and she loved it.
All she ever had to do was spend the money.
So-yeah, give her the gift of a little pampering. And books.
As someone who is turning 70 this year – I am struggling trying to downsize. I don’t want anything. Someone to cook a nice dinner at home and have family there.
Travel. I took my mom all over the world. As she got older and less mobile, she cherished reminiscing about our trips together.
An entire spa day; massage, facial, mani, pedi. Top it off with a hotel room for her only, with room service. While she’s gone, have her house cleaned.
Lunch and the coolest bookstore you can find in your area!! I would love that!
A spa day and lunch/dinner! My kids got this for me and a friend. It was awesome! We both got mani/pedi, facials, and a full body massage.
Dinner and tickets to see a play or other public performance that she normally would love but doesn’t go anymore.
But as a mom nearing 70. Having your child’s undivided attention for a few hours is wonderful
Respectfully, we don’t know her and not all older people have the same likes and dislikes, so whatever anyone suggests here may not be something she would enjoy. (For example, I would hate a spa day.)
I suggest you ask her what she would like. Would she like you to take her to lunch or dinner? Go to a movie, a concert or the theater? Spend an afternoon in a park?
And remember that just because you really want to do this, it doesn’t mean she has to want you to do something for her. She may genuinely be happy spending the day by herself, for example, or just having you come over and spend some time with her.
Gifts should be about what pleases the receiver, so I suggest you try to find out from her what would please her.
Can you take a lunch ferry ride? Took my daughter for a ferry ride around NYC a few years ago, had a wonderful meal, nice bonding time. Or a beautiful museum or arboretum. Seeing beautiful things together is quite a journey and gift.
Nobody at that age wants even more family pictures. We know what everyone looks like and are trying to downsize. Get a jeweler to make her special earrings, or buy some. She literally tells you what she likes.
Have a look at The Flower Letters. You choose the story type and they post out a letter per month which tells the story. Looks very good.
Maybe take her on some lovely trip – just the two of you. Or some other experience that she might appreciate: a theatre show and then a nice meal?
I’m 65. My daughter has taken me to concerts and theater productions. My son has taken me to see my favorite comedian. Time well spent with my kids.
I’m 70 and I love getting gift cards for restaurants. I’m so tired of cooking some days
What kind of person is she?
Spend time with her. Take her to lunch, or maybe make her lunch if you cook.
Make a book of memories about her. things you remember from growing up. Lessons you learned from her that you carry with you-etc.
Ask her what she would like. It may be hard to get her to say if she’s not used to centering herself-but you centering her is part of the gift.
Memories
One of these: https://a.co/d/aj8BZok
It’s a little book light on Amazon. I love mine and have purchased others for friends and theyove them, too.
Edited to add: Etsy gift card for jewelry.
A day at a spa.