I am thinking of buying her a star in her name as that seems really special and maybe a high tea somewhere….. but really I am undecided and open to any REALLY special suggestions. thank you
I Want an Really Amazing Birthday Gift for My Mum Who Turns 90 in a Couple of Weeks
hsk on 03/03/2016 - 23:33
Comments
You could have knocked me over with a feather.
yes I guess i thought as much that is why I asked here. I have looked into Meals on wheels for her but really in her area they provide frozen meals one day a week and she must still cook them for herself. So we have opted to do the supermarkets meals. So I guess I am still looking for something REALLY special :-) thank you
What are her interests? What does she like doing? Is she active and alert? Is there something in particular she has wanted to do all her life but never kinda gotten around to it? Or somewhere she has always wanted to go?
I will ask her that but mostly these days she is tired and is finding it hard to get around can not sit in a car to drive a long way and such. Once a long time ago she wanted to go on a paddle boat on the Murray river, but now i do not think she could cope with the drive from Central Coast NSW to Echua. As well she said once sometime ago that she would like to go in a hot air balloon so maybe I can find that in the Central Coast area.. mind you how she would get it in would be very interesting. And if she really did want to or was just saying as you do lol….. other than that she lives alone and has her Sunday church outing and a friend who takes her shopping weekly. :-)
Assuming she doesn't live with you, I would get her, and you, something like an iPad and give her an internet connection with a decent data allowance. That way you can facetime talk to her as often as you like. She can also keep herself amused surfing the internet and downloading apps that she might be interested in, e.g. the Louvre app, Solitaire, etc. A lot of apps are free or reasonably priced and you can give her some itunes cards to start her off. This gives her access to the world.
One of those BigW canvas prints that are regularly 50+% off or artscow products are cool - given you pick the right photo. I think we take for granted that photos can be turned into anything nowadays, whereas it was such a rarity to even have a wallet sized photo taken. If looking at more experiential things, keep an eye for the Groupon type deals in your area.
10year subscription to the newspaper.
WoW it's a bit of a hard one isn't it? dunno your mum but most ppl who have made it to ninety have had a life of hardship sacrifice etc. Have you thought of hiring a biographer (amateur)and get them to chat with mum and do a biography, while it may not be in time for her birthday its a keepsake for when she passes to the entire tribe and add piccys etc or do a slideshow of her life yourself from old pics and family stories?
I find old people love family gatherings, esp with their grand children. One thing we can't buy is more time, so make the most of it and have a big family dinner or something.
male stripper?
Pole dancing lessons followed by a nice cup of tea, bex and a good lie down
HA !
What about a session with a photographer, with all children/grandchildren? Do the photos in a park and make a day of it, and then a few weeks later give her a professional album of the photos
My suggestion is similar to some posters above:
Have you considered Home Care Services? If she qualified for Medicare subsidy (majorly elderly residents in Australia are qualified), you can choose gardening, cleaning services, escort to hospital or pharmacies or doctors, or combination of all those, including meals on wheels too.
Many home care services provider in Australia (aged care providers) do this.
Since 1 July, there a new govt initiative call CDC (consumers direct care), this scheeme really benefits the elderly compare to before 1 july 15.
Downton Abbey box set
We had a surprise party for my grandmother with people from senior cits club and family and friends, heaps of people to celebrate her with a cake and food. She really liked that. Time is a great gift to older people.
I bought mine a Golliwog, and she loved it, they go back years and many have fond memories of them.
A video tribute - get family from wherever they are in the world to greet her and compile it into a montage with AC/DC playing in the background.
How 'with it' is she? Does she cook?
1 idea would be to gather all her recipes and collate them, make them into a book. It could be done as a photo book, with a pic of the completed product on the next page. Make 1 for her obviously and 1 for her kids/grandkids :)
My grandma went skydiving (with an assistant) for the first time at 87yo. She got interviewed by phone on Rove Live, who commented about all the loose facial skin flying around.
It was great. Not everyone's idea of fun, but maybe ask?
Get life insurance for her too if you're going with the above idea.
Yes. Because life companies are all happy to insure a 90 year old planning to go sky-diving…in fact, they'll even throw in a free payout for accidental pregnancy.
Obviously you know how to be sarcastic. Too bad you can't detect sarcasm of others.
If she has hearing problems, and has the 'cheap' hearing aids, get her the good ones. They make a world of difference.
Another practical option is a custom-made recliner chair.
But I think the best thing you could get her is probably a family & friends reunion. That's what my family had for Grandpa's 90th and he loved it. We had most of the CWA dancing with him!
Is there a faraway relative she really wants to see.Maybe you could pay for them to fly in for her birthday.
Does she enjoy film? I've been wanting to hook my mum up with an oculus/vive because of the virtual cinema screen thing there (I heard of it with the oculus DK1). My mum loves the cinema experience and the tv just isn't anywhere near as immersive. I think those VR setups would be fun for her but she would only use it for that, much as she used to only use her pc for solitaire heh (she uses it for more now though).
I don't have anywhere near enough money to hook her up though unfortunately but a couple of generations down the track it might be a bit more affordable. Maybe it'd make an interesting experience for your mum.
Photo book with the best pics from her life would be nice
Accommodation and Dinner and Show at Star City. Something they consider a bit fancy and a dress up occasion. From the older ladies I know, that generation were quite frugal and expensive restaurants and such are quite the big deal. Maybe even hire a limo.
If she's like any of the oldies I know surprises are no good because the first instinct is to disagree and huff and puff a bit which gives you the impression they don't want to do stuff when after thinking about it they do. I need to very gently introduce any ideas then come back to it later after they've had a chance to evaluate.
And….what did we do……how did it go?
We went to dinner around Gosford before birthday on birthday and after birthday. We did a high tea at a pretty coffee shop called Cornerstone with a couple of other friends on her birthday. Took photos everywhere we went and the highlight I think was I took her back to the house where she grew up which was originally the Kincumber Post Office and is now a shop called the Love Junk Emporium selling antiques and Art deco furniture. The lovely people there let her walk around and go out the back to what was her back yard and reminisce about her childhood. Then I took her up Kincumber Mountain and we look lots of photos as when she was a child she lived near the mountain and used to climb up with her brothers and sisters. All in all I think she had a few days. thanks for asking :-)
What about getting her a copy of newspaper for her actual birth date?
Make a memory video. Get family members and friends to talk about a special memory of an experience shared with your mum or make a comment about a special characteristic that they admire about her or the effect she has had on their life. Make it into DVD so she can replay it on a smart TV
No astronomer will ever refer to a star with that given name.
Star-naming registries are known to be scams / frauds,. The marketing makes you assume that naming a star means that astronomers will refer to it by that name (spoiler: they don't!) and that future generations will remember that star as Aunt Helga or Tommy or Dick or whatever, forever (hint: nobody will). The stars you name aren’t recognised by anyone outside the company you paid.
If you can afford it, why not subscribe her to a meal service? (e.g Meals on Wheels) Older people generally don't have a lot of motivation to cook for themselves (too tiring to cook and shop for groceries) and having healthy meals delivered to the doorstep everyday for a month or two is a pretty damn good present.