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Xmas gifts for moms?

savar

savar

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Jun 6, 2003
1,950
0
District of Columbia
What are you all getting for your parents for Xmas/Hannukah/Other?

My dad is pretty easy because he's not big on gifts anyway, so I'll get him something small.

But for my mom I'm totally bewildered. This is like buying for a girlfriend -- except the girlfriend is 50 and you have no idea what she's into.

She's got an imac and ipod, but I think itunes gift card is too impersonal.

She travels most weeks of the year as a consultant for Verisign -- "road warrrior" if you will. I'd get her some cool toy for people who travel a lot but she's already got most of the obvious ones.

She also recently bought a new house in my area and will be relocating in January...so I'm think new home presents would be good too. But what?

She loves to read (mystery, religion, politics) and loves puzzles, but she already owns a bajillion books, several sudoku books, and does the crosswords in the paper everyday.

As far as usual female stuff, forget it. I have no clue where I would even start. This is my first year living away from home (not counting college, where at least I was home for the summer), and so I've lost track of what my mom is interested in. She likes a few TV shows, like The Closer, but she already has the DVDs for that.

Any ideas? I'm looking to spend $100-200, but we usually buy several presents for each other, so two or three small things and one bigger thing in that budget.
 
Several little things are good instead of one big thing.

Why not give her several little things? You've named her hobbies, workplace, and the fact that she's moving. Shop antique malls and gift shops for things for her house. Pictures, knick-knacks...decorations or pictures that represent her job or her interests are a good idea. Then there's the silly side: I bought my family back massagers one year. I bought my mom a microwavable shoulder rest to help her with tension in the afternoons. (It smells nice, too.) We also get each other a Christmas ornament or two. What is something she likes but doesn't do for herself? A gift certificate to a spa for a manicure and pedicure is good.

One gift card isn't too impersonal in the whole realm of gift-giving. iTunes or Books a Million or something. Good luck and have fun with it!
 
We typically go low-key at this point. We got them a nice digital picture frame and I'm getting my Dad a car adapter for his Shuffle so he doesn't drive with the ear buds in.
 
You might try a gift certificate to a spa. I bought my wife a package last year and she loved it. Just a day to get away and have people take care of you.

I found the Tall Grass Spa in Colorado because someone mentioned it to me, but you could also try searching at the Aveda site for spas that they recommend in your area. I tried this because my wife likes Aveda products.
 
I was in the same boat everyone in my family is easy to buy for but my mother she is a retired nurse and does nothing all day lol . I got here a weeks stay at a spa I thought she could use it. I also got her an Ipod nano she has confinscated mine so I will hopefully get mine back on christmas day.
 
Buying my mom a 50" plasma flat screen. She is going to love it. I know LCD is better, but I'm not paying $8K for a TV.
 
Mum didn't want a big gift this year so she's got lots of smaller ones; straighteners, lounging PJs, an iTrip, ceramics, Clarins skincare and then the stuff for her stocking.

New home presents are not good for Christmas... that's a housewarming, first visit type thing.

If you think she 'has' everything, how about buying her a spa day with several treatments? Or an 'experience' type day that she might not have tried before.
 
mcarnes said:
Buying my mom a 50" plasma flat screen. She is going to love it. I know LCD is better, but I'm not paying $8K for a TV.
Click to expand...

Isn't that backwards?

I dunno. I'd take a 40" 1080p LCD over a bigger but lower-res plasma any day. Are there any 1080p plasmas?
 
mcarnes said:
Buying my mom a 50" plasma flat screen.
Click to expand...


I'm glad that my mother can't use a computer to read something like that! ;)

I'm in the 'little presents' camp: a book, a bottle of her favourite sherry and nice box of posh chocolates. What more could she want on a cold winter's night? (But, sshh, don't tell her, it's a surprise.)
 
killmoms said:
Isn't that backwards?

I dunno. I'd take a 40" 1080p LCD over a bigger but lower-res plasma any day. Are there any 1080p plasmas?
Click to expand...

Not really. Plasma's are considerably less expensive than LCD's.

I haven't seem a 1080p Plasma. I have a seen 1080p DLP's and LCD's though, but the only thing that is 1080p to my knowledge is Blu-Ray.
 
emw said:
We typically go low-key at this point. We got them a nice digital picture frame and I'm getting my Dad a car adapter for his Shuffle so he doesn't drive with the ear buds in.
Click to expand...

Your dad DRIVES WITH HIS EARBUDS IN, what, doesn't he like his life.
 
Making her an iPhoto book with important pictures (for her) from last year.

If she travels, you may want to peek in her planner and make her a calendar with all of her appointments.

My Mom is getting the above Photobook, a gift certifcate for a spa manicure and a piece of pottery she's been wanting.
 
gifted

Got mine a netfix subscription. She's always getting calls from Blockbuster saying she's late on rental returns. I debated whether to get her the full year unlimited I can easily afford it, but she's not tech savy. What if she tries it an doesn't like it? So i got 3 months worth unlimited instead.
 
weldon said:
You might try a gift certificate to a spa. I bought my wife a package last year and she loved it. Just a day to get away and have people take care of you.

I found the Tall Grass Spa in Colorado because someone mentioned it to me, but you could also try searching at the Aveda site for spas that they recommend in your area. I tried this because my wife likes Aveda products.
Click to expand...

This was my first thought as well. For a woman who has to travel as much as she does this may be a blessing in disguise. With that said, my mom is hard to buy for as she has everything and right now she's in the middle of a $100k remodel/addition. She asked for an ice cream maker, a hand mixer, a cutting board, and a crepe pan. LAME! She got all of that as well as two cashmere sweaters, a jacket, two pairs of pj's cuz she always wants them, $100 to banana republic and then because there was nothing that WOWed me so I bought her a nice ring from tiffany.
 
Well, being as I'm 15 I had to go cheap. But I think I did very well.

Early this year, October, we went to DisneyWorld for my mom's 50th birthday. She loved the trip. So I got her a picture frame with five places for pictures and put five pictures from the trip in there. She really liked DisneyWorld so I hope I did well. All under $20.

Otherwise my dad got her earrings and my sister (24) got her perfume, a crossword puzzle book, and something else that I can't remember.

Now I feel like a cheap ass compared to some of these posts. But then again, I don't have a job.
 
zflauaus said:
She loved the trip. So I got her a picture frame with five places for pictures and put five pictures from the trip in there. She really liked DisneyWorld so I hope I did well.

Now I feel like a cheap ass compared to some of these posts.
Click to expand...
Don't feel like a cheapass, I think that's a fantastic gift. I definitely see where you're coming from though, since this is the longest time I've gone w/out working since I started working (when I was 15 'til now) so the cash flow isn't what it should be. :eek:

My older sister and I are gonna split the cost of a really really nice pair of Clarks of England shoes for our mom. My mom is so selfless and financially stingy when it comes to herself so she'll never splurge and buy herself a pair of these shoes even though she seems to have a hard time pulling herself away from 'em.
 
I made/bought an iPhoto calendar with pictures of my children taken recently at a photo studio. She'll love it, I know. She appreciates the personal touch, not the cost.
 
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