Stumped for Ideas for Christmas Gifts? 9 Gifts for the Older Person who has Everything

Many seniors have spent their lives accumulating possessions and seem to have everything. In fact they are in the position of needing to downsize and eliminate some of their possessions. When it comes to gift giving for these persons what do you do? Here is some inspiration for the challenged gift giver:

1. Gift certificate for massages/facials. If the senior is not used to doing these then you may need to follow up by making an appointment for them and providing transport if necessary. This will avoid it sitting in a drawer somewhere.

2. Movie, concert or play tickets. Again you might want to add transportation particularly if these events are taking place at nights since seniors may not like to drive themselves.

3. Upgraded tickets for sporting events such as cricket or football

4. Fruit/wine baskets

5. Providing a needed repair or servicing. For example does a room need painting or a roof need repairing? Does the senior’s car need new tyres or servicing? Just get it done. Don’tt worry that it may not be very exciting. If it meets a real need it will be very appreciated

6. Cleaning/gardening services. You can choose to make this a one time event or promise to pay at specified times

7. Have meals delivered. Many seniors don’t eat as well as they should because they can’t be bothered to cook or may not have the energy to do so. Having nutritious and delicious meals delivered to the house from time to time is a wonderful gift. If the portions are generous the meal may serve more than once. OF course dietary needs should be considered

8. Photo albums or video of the family. This will be particularly appreciated if the family is spread out.

9. Gift certificates. Choose places where they can get a range of goods such as Amazon.com for online ordering or department stores with a variety of goods. Again you may need to offer transportation and follow up to make sure that they are used.

We said 9 but here is a bonus that is perfectly free

10. Your time! This may be the best gift of all over the holiday season. Put aside several hours just to sit and chat with the seniors in your life. Be creative – it doesn’t just have to be at home. Grab your car keys and head to the park or the hills and just sit and spend time with them.

Finally remember the reason for the season. Don’t get so stressed about getting the perfect gift that you forget that the best gift of all is love. Happy Holidays!

Name(required)

Email(required)

Website

Comment(required)

Submit

Δ

Holidays – A lost art?

Recently the US celebrated Thanksgiving and there was a vigorous debate about how the ‘Black Friday’ shopping day was creeping into the Thanksgiving holiday. If shops were opening on Thanksgiving night did that mean that families were spending less time celebrating the holiday and more time in lines waiting for the doors to open? And what about those people who had to show up to work? What about their holiday? For those of us who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, substitute your own holidays? Is your Christmas spent in the kitchen cooking for the entire clan so much so that you don’t actually rest or spend time with them? What about vacation time – do you use up your vacation allocation, or does HR have to insist that you take some leave because you have too many unused days?

Holidays are important not just because they give us a chance to celebrate, but because they also break the everyday routine of nonstop activity,so we need to think twice before we dismiss or abuse them. Vacations and holidays allow us to recoup and regroup. Most importantly in a time stressed world they provide us with an opportunity to spend time with loved ones, particularly our older loved ones. It’s not very pleasant to contemplate but it’s a fact that some of them won’t be with us for much longer so we shouldn’t squander the opportunities to share time with them.

I found the following gems in O Magazine in an article entitled “Five Reasons you really do need a vacation according to Scientists”

1. To protect your ticker – People who regularly take annual vacations slash their risk of death from heart disease by as much as 29%.

2. To extend your life – People who vacation have a 17% lower risk of death from any cause.

3. To be happier even before you leave home – Scientists found that simply anticipating a trip increases happiness and lead to a more positive outlook and lower levels of depression.

4. To improve the quality of your relationship – One study found that there was a direct correlation between frequency of vacations and odds of marital satisfaction.

5. To boost our productivity – Time off is crucial for stress recovery and stress recovery is crucial for improving well-being and performance on the job

So there you have it from the experts. My own caution – don’t wait until you retire to take time for yourself because who knows what the future may bring, Regular vacations give you the time to do the things that you want to do while you still have the good health and energy to enjoy them.

Now it’s time to do a couple of things:
– Plan to take regularly scheduled time away from your regular routine whatever that is.
– Plan to make that time off real relaxation. Don’t buy into the hype of what you should do or force yourself to meet other’s expectations. Think about what works for you and plan to do that.

No doubt it will involve some negotiation with bosses and loved ones and you can expect some resistance, but stand firm. Your heart, happiness and life depend on it.