Holiday shopping for the elder on your list

December 1st. How did that happen?

The holiday season is upon us. If you’ve already finished your shopping, then…well…bully for you. The rest of us? Well, we just might have an older person on our gift-giving list.

The media is full of advice about what to give the older person in your life. But, so many times we fall back on cliche gifts like powder or a knick-knack of some sort, when, in fact, people in their later years are actually wanting to get rid of the doodads they already have.

I saw that with my mother especially. Although she had the added factor of having a terminal illness, you could really tell that she had no interest in “things”.

Ronni Bennett, author of one of my favorite blogs, As Time Goes By-What It’s Really Like to Get Older, has created a wonderful list of gifts for elders. She emphasizes that you have to do some investigative work to find out what they really need, and, that sometimes the best gifts may seem mundane, but, to someone on a fixed income they may be perfect.

So it is important in choosing gifts for elders to find something that is useful, needed, won’t unnecessarily complicate their lives and of course, is something they will enjoy. Unless an elder on your list is a passionate collector of, for example, ceramic frogs, tchotchkes are not good choices. They’re just one more thing that needs dusting.

She has divided gift ideas into Entertainment, Personal, Practical and Electronic and suggests items such as an iPod already filled with music they like, a pre-paid salon visit, magazine subscriptions (consider large print versions), or, movie tickets.

I think a roll of stamps, or, a selction of batteries could be good gifts as well, as they can be expensive and they are among those things that you never seem to have enough of in the house.

Ronni also brings up an important point that when you give someone a service or a gift that is a piece of paper, make sure to include a small something to unwrap. It’s fun to able able to join in, but, also remember that if there are children there during gift time, they don’t always understand certificates and such, and, they might think the recipient didn’t get “a present” since there isn’t a box and a bow.

Happy Shopping!