My mom retired from teaching this year (grade school phys Ed). I didn’t really think about a gift, but a few relatives mentioned they’re sending her things for this weekend so I would like to as well.
She’s very hard to shop for. Plus the pandemic eliminates a lot of options. She doesn’t like “girly” things such as handbags, jewelry, spa days, clothes and shoes, hair and makeup. My dad is dead and she doesn’t date, so nothing couples-oriented like a B&B stay or a romantic dinner gift card. She is an extremely picky eater and doesn’t drink wine - she drinks one particular domestic beer and she’s already been gifted many cases of it. Sometimes she goes into NYC with friends for Broadway shows but that won’t work now. I wanted to do a family trip to Fenway Park this year too.
Her main social activities are church (Catholic), and going out to pubs with her friends. She has a small pool in her yard. She also likes traveling with friends/family and was planning a trip to Ireland in the fall but obviously that’s not happening now. They’ve postponed to 2021 but who knows. If she WAS going on the trip this year I would’ve gotten her something like a really good suitcase or a jacket or TSA Precheck - is it dumb to get her travel stuff at this point in time, not knowing when she might travel again?
I thought about a basic iPad - she uses a Chromebook to check email, go on Facebook, a few websites, and FB Videochats with my DD. She’s not tech savvy but she used an iPad for work so she can handle it. I found an affordable iPad that I can pick up curbside this week but I feel very lost looking at it ... are there any catches I’m missing, or is this truly a new iPad for ~$330 out the door? No data plan but she can use her home wifi so that’s fine. www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-ipad-latest-model-with-wi-fi-32gb-space-gray/5985609.p?skuId=5985609
Budget - around $300ish? Up to $500 for something perfect. I’m waiting to hear from my sister to see if she has any ideas/wants to split something bigger-budget, but she’s only just gone back to work (service industry) so I doubt she’ll be able to pitch in much, or anything.
I like the nice suitcase idea since presumably travel will become ok at some point again (might be post-vaccine but if she just retired has years of adventures in front of her assuming travel is part of her retirement vision) and the suitcase wouldn’t go bad sitting in her closet for awhile if her now 2021 trip gets pushed again. If you would do pre-check (I probably wouldn’t right now but it’s good for 5 years) spend the extra $15 to get global entry, it requires an interview but speeds up customs returning to the US and includes pre-check.
The iPad is nice too, check the memory capacity on the one you were eyeing- that tends to be the biggest difference on those, and again if she uses it traveling she’ll likely want to download some movies or a favorite show series for flights so I’d want to make sure it can hold a few plus photos and such. I think it can but haven’t downloaded a movie in forever so not sure how big they are now that everything is moving to 4K or whatever.
Since she’s a picky eater is she also good in the kitchen? A nice kitchen tool could be fun if so- I’ll say I got an Anova sous vide machine for Christmas and it’s been AWESOME, we’ve had really great steaks for basically every pandemic holiday this year (H’s birthday, our anniversary, Father’s Day, and the ever popular fuckittheywereoutofgroundbeeftoday) and it’s been a game changer for some other foods like pork too.
My Mom doesn’t like to shop and isn’t into makeup etc either. I usually get her a Barnes and noble gift card (bc she loves to read) or something for the kitchen (bc she likes to cook).
I think your ideas are good and the iPad would be great. While memory storage is important to me, if she’s anything like my parents, they’d probably just surf the web on it, and not download much. It’s easier to travel with than a laptop (and use with plane or hotel wifi).
Travel gear is fine too. Covid ruined so many plans but she has a lot of fabulous retirement years ahead of her to travel’d also include something cute she could use now that would make it feel like a celebration, like a ridiculous pool floaty and some fun sunglasses. Like, here’s something to travel with, and something to turn your backyard into a staycation.
Are you relatively near each other, and are there scenic destinations nearby? What about two nights at an AirBnB for a girls’ trip with you, your sister and your mom? The card could say something like, “It’s not quite Ireland, but we still wanted to make sure you got to kick off retirement with a well-deserved getaway!”
I thought about a basic iPad - she uses a Chromebook to check email, go on Facebook, a few websites, and FB Videochats with my DD. She’s not tech savvy but she used an iPad for work so she can handle it. I found an affordable iPad that I can pick up curbside this week but I feel very lost looking at it ... are there any catches I’m missing, or is this truly a new iPad for ~$330 out the door? No data plan but she can use her home wifi so that’s fine. www.bestbuy.com/site/apple-ipad-latest-model-with-wi-fi-32gb-space-gray/5985609.p?skuId=5985609
Budget - around $300ish? Up to $500 for something perfect. I’m waiting to hear from my sister to see if she has any ideas/wants to split something bigger-budget, but she’s only just gone back to work (service industry) so I doubt she’ll be able to pitch in much, or anything.
Thanks for any ideas!
You aren't missing anything re this ipad, but I will tell you that the 128G (so, more storage) model has been regularly bouncing around in price and you can often get the 128G for $329 at Best Buy and sometimes Amazon. It was $329 last week at Best Buy. I personally would just bookmark it and check it until it drops back down, and buy the 128G. (That is what I did, and the one you linked is the model I bought several months ago, but in the 128G version.)
Post by imojoebunny on Jun 30, 2020 19:45:05 GMT -5
My next door neighbor sounds very similar. Just retired from teaching PE. She is married, but her wife travels a lot. They are not doing much now, since sports, friend trips, and pubs are out. I gave her a gift card to Lowes. She seems to enjoy or at least spends a lot of time in her yard. If your mom has a pool, a gift card to where she buys pool care supplies, would allow her to spend the money she saves on that, to go somewhere for a weekend or whatever she wants, while still being "a gift". In normal times, I would have many more options, but here we are. An ipad would be a nice gift, if she would use it. I have an ipad, laptop, and kindle fire. I take the kindle fire, when I travel because I can do everything I want to do, and I don't give a crap if it gets lost or broken, and it is best for reading books from the library and Amazon. I seldom use the ipad, over the laptop, at home because the screen is too small for my old eyes.