Alternative Gift Ideas for the Elderly

My Father's 86th birthday is fast approaching. On our last phone call he advised he needed nothing, and to just send a card.This seems a poor way to celebrate a parents birthday, but he honestly needs nothing. So what is a daughter to give a Dad who has everything? A lot of thought has gone into this, and I came up with five alternative gifts giving ideas for that elderly person who may be on your gift list.

1) Flowers are so ordinary. By the time you get to be 86, flowers or plants are something you've received over and over. Not much excitement in that gift. But I discovered that your local florist shop will make up almost any sort of gift basket you can imagine. Last year I told them my Father loves football and they put together a football basket, complete with a football balloon. In it they placed a football coffee mug with hazelnut coffee, popcorn to eat while watching the game, some nuts to eat with a cut nutcracker and salami and crackers. Living 400 miles away I did not get to see it in person, but was emailed a picture. It was well worth the $30 I paid for it.

2) My Dad meets the 'guys' every Thursday for lunch. This has been a tradition for years. This year, I'm calling the restaurant where they meet every Thursday and leaving my credit card number to pay. It just happens that I know the shop owner so they were willing to do this. another alternative is to give a gift card for the restaurant, or better yet surprise the elderly person and show up in person. I know several relatives and elderly friends who have a weekly luncheon with friends. MY Dad has no idea of his gift this year, so shhhhh!

3) My brother told me that he is going to give free help around the house as a present. While grown children might be expected to help out their elderly parents, painting the house for free is quit another idea. This might work for any major chore around the house, such as raking the yard or doing major house repairs. Put a note in the birthday card to surprise your elderly loved one or better yet, show up one day to cook lunch and advise the recipient what their gift will be for this year.

4) This summer, I will be home on my Mother's birthday. I plan on cooking a wonderful meal for her. Now how I am going to do it without having her give me step by step directions is another issue. But I don't believe she has ever had anyone cook her a great meal. Sure, we have made hamburger helper, but we are talking lasagna, a salad, and the whole works, complete with jazz music and candles for mood setting. I don't think there is any elderly person who will turn down this idea.

5) For Christmas, I put together a scrapbook quilt for my Mother. I have actually seen these that you can purchase, but I made one myself. On the front of the quilt, I placed small plastic picture frames, that you can buy at any crafts store or at a scrape-booking store. I glued them on, and placed lace trimming around the frame. She has zillions of pictures of her children everywhere, but the grand kids pictures are here and there, wherever she can find a place. So i created a grandma quilt. I"m not sure guys would enjoy this as much as they aren't as nostalgic as us females. The hard part is getting my siblings to donate pictures. I am still working on that aspect of the gift.

Maybe this will give you a few alternative gift ideas for the elderly person in your life who has been blessed enough to have everything. After all, when you've lived 86 years, there isn't much left to buy that's new!