Ideas?..I got nuthin.... need to get a mom a gift and need some suggestions - I saw the other thread which prompted me ( not holy ghost kind of prompt) to ask the board. She is elderly and only has a few years left. All her reading is MO and all her scriptures are highlighted in yellow and red. Sad to say she is miserable and I know why... the unattainable expectaions of Mormonism has consumed her.

So any suggestions appreciated.


She doesn't need another flower or waffle iron so as a mom

what would you want?

Does she have any hobbies (other than Mormonism)?

Maybe a gift certificate to a spa? My mama always loves a good pedicure or having her hair done.

My M-I-L enjoys a fancy dinner and a night out on the town (symphony or ballet, for example).

I think at this point in their lives they are tired of "stuff" and just want to be recognized and remembered and loved.

every year my DH goes to the store buys a bouquet of pretty flowers and goes to his mom's house for a visit. it's simple, doesnt cost a ton and she loves it.

My husband's mom is in a nursing home, is diabetic, has glaucoma, HBP, heart issues, etc.

She likes to be taken out to a little deli place near there for lunch, to get her hair done at a salon other than the one closest to the home. So when we're there at this time of year, we do that with her. We also take her to the cemetery so she can visit her husband's grave and help her neaten it up.

We get her an expensive robe and nice slippers every other year, and usually every year, framed pics of our son or a Kodak Gallery photo album of our travels as a family. Flowers and sugar-free chocolates, too. And my son will make little pictures for her, and write her little stories.

Cashmere shawls or lap robes, special pillows and cases, a custom frame for her husbands military things and burial flag, a special reading lamp, etc, have been gifts in the past that she said she loved.

One year we sent ducks to China via Heifer International in her name, another year we sponsored a library donation in her name.

You don't have time to order from Red Envelope or National Geographic's gift catalog or Levenger's or anyplace like that now.

So just think: what does my mom like? Does she like birds or birdsongs? Coffee table books about dollhouses? Writing letters to old friends, on good (ie: expensive) stationery? Does she have a favorite movie star you could find a book about?

Or maybe, she just wants you to spend time with her, then take her out to get some favorite cookies or cakes together, or go for a long drive together.

Can you ask her? And if she says "Oh, anything is fine" say "No, it's not. I want to do something very special for you and I am not good at this sort of thing, never have been. But I love you, and I want to do this right, for you. So please help me, so that I can give you something you really, really like."