Present help please for awkward nan

DomRavioli

nick-nick wrote: »

Do Man City have a former players association? You could contact them to see if any of the olden day players will go out for lunch with her one day or something? Not a present as such, but she would probably enjoy that.

She's godmother to a rather famous player's son. She knows most of the old and current teams as she ran the supporters association for over 10 years.

Ms_Chocaholic wrote: »

What about a Man City shirt?

Or a signed MCFC shirt she could hang on the wall given she seems such a devout fan.

She has these already. She has literally everything football themed.

minimad1970 wrote: »

Would she like a mobile hairdresser/beautician to come to her house for some treatments and a new hairdo?

She'd hate that (hates any kind of fuss, unless she is the one doing the fussing), since she's been disabled she doesn't really care about her appearance.


Thanks for all your suggestions, they're all great but not for her. Seems I'm still stuck - I'll keep thinking.

DomRavioli

elsien wrote: »

I think whitewing may have meant how does she occupy herself now? Does she like reading, listening to music/the radio to stop herself from getting bored?
Does she like a bit of pampering - someone coming in to give her a manicure, hand massage, facial, that sort of thing?

My grandmother didn't like a fuss, but once we got a wheelchair taxi sorted she thought the effort was worth the change of scenery. Is some sort of outing really out of the question, if you can convince her she's not putting anyone out?

Alternatively, a good bottle of the tipple of her preference?

Hiya,

She won't go out unless it is absolutely necessary (we practically had to drug her to get her to hospital when she had pneumonia). She's had a lot of problems whilst out and about in the past, so she's very reluctant to go out. Its not about putting anyone out as such.

She mainly listens to the radio (she has 2 DAB's and a portable one she takes with her), or has friends over during the day - I've suggested a nice tea service, or something nice to share with friends which were both met with a pretty stern no.

She's a nightmare to buy for!

tizerbelle

How often do you spend time at hers? Could you do something like a pack of tokens for things you could do with her? e.g. for a special home cooked (by you) meal one evening; have a movie night together watching an old film / man city highlights dvd; paint the hallway; spend time together over X weeks (little and often) sorting through old photos/memorabilia and creating a scrap book / memory box.

Failing all that, tell her she's a nightmare to buy for and you want some hints as to what she'd like or she's going to get a pack of cotton hankies with her initials embroidered on them and a bottle of Lily of the Valley perfume! That used to get my nan coming up with all sorts of suggestions pretty quickly :rotfl:

tizerbelle

Another thought - what about a simple cd player (assuming her radios don't also have a CD function) and a selection of audio books on cd - so she can listen to something different than the radio.

lb364

Is there any chance you could get some of the family together round hers and take a meal/party food for everyone? Sounds like there's nothing she wants so maybe spend the money on socialising with her.

Otherwise a charity donation or another watercolour to compliment the last?

Ms_Chocaholic

Adopt a camel, monkey, panda etc

Flowers or a plant

melanzana

This is why Christmas is so difficult for many.

What did you get for Nan's Birthday for example?

If it were me, I would get a nice bouquet delivered to her home.

Everyone loves flowers don't they?

DomRavioli

lb364 wrote: »

Is there any chance you could get some of the family together round hers and take a meal/party food for everyone? Sounds like there's nothing she wants so maybe spend the money on socialising with her.

Otherwise a charity donation or another watercolour to compliment the last?

That sounds great! I will be ringing round tonight and asking everyone, never thought of bringing the party to her!

tizerbelle wrote: »

Another thought - what about a simple cd player (assuming her radios don't also have a CD function) and a selection of audio books on cd - so she can listen to something different than the radio.

She can't use them due to loading, unloading and button pressing problems - she has very little use of her hands, and gets frustrated with buttons. She only watches TV when there's someone there with her, otherwise its Classic FM for 12 hours!

tizerbelle wrote: »

How often do you spend time at hers? Could you do something like a pack of tokens for things you could do with her? e.g. for a special home cooked (by you) meal one evening; have a movie night together watching an old film / man city highlights dvd; paint the hallway; spend time together over X weeks (little and often) sorting through old photos/memorabilia and creating a scrap book / memory box.

Failing all that, tell her she's a nightmare to buy for and you want some hints as to what she'd like or she's going to get a pack of cotton hankies with her initials embroidered on them and a bottle of Lily of the Valley perfume! That used to get my nan coming up with all sorts of suggestions pretty quickly :rotfl:

I don't spend too much time there to be honest, as she always has neighbours round during the week and at weekends she has other family there (I do go every two weeks on my designated Tuesday though)! I might just get her some vouchers for tesco so she can pick out what she likes when she sees it.

whitewing

Could you ask her neighbours if they can think of anything?

bluenose1

My MIL loved her ipad when she was alive, I couldn't believe how well she took to it. Not sure if she has anything like that. I think you said your budget was £500.