Are you ready for Christmas? Would like to hear gift ideas for an elderly lady who recently had a stroke.

I have ten-foot ceilings. I change all the recessed bulbs myself and have a utensil to use for unscrewing old bulbs and screwing in new ones, but it would be wonderful if someone would volunteer to do it for me. Maybe your friends need help like that!

Elderly people love it if someone runs errands around holiday time. Pick up the cooked turkey at the grocery store so they don't have to leave home to do that while cooking the side dishes and expecting family to arrive any minute. My mom, who had arthritis, used to hire a helper for wrapping Christmas presents. What if a friend had done it for free? Would have been nice.

A booklet, homemade, with coupons good for transportation to several doctor appointments, gift of a friend.

Come and see me over the holidays and bring the snacks so I don't have to go out of my way to make something nice. Eggnog from the grocery store. Cookies from the bakery; I don't care if you bake them yourself.

Help me take down my easy-to-put-up spiral Christmas tree and put it in its box. Help me store it for next year. Thanks!

Things like that could make a merrier Christmas.

Another idea—take their car to an automatic car wash and run it through. The very idea can be daunting for a senior citizen with mobility or other issues. Some elderly ladies don’t know how to do it because their deceased husband always took care of it.

As someone who is 74 I don't need much materialistic wise. I would love homemade cookies. Maybe a gift certificate to clean my house. One year for Christmas my grandson made me a coupon book. Can't remember what was in it but could be a coupon to wash a car, clean snow off the sidewalk, do dishes, run an errand, take to an appt, a free meal. Maybe a pretty handmade throw blanket. If in a NH or AL, a nice quilt for their bed, especially in a NH since they are not supplied.

My mom loves Amazon gift cards. She can use them to buy other people gifts or for her own needs.

We used to send my husband's elderly relatives Walmart gift cards. They all shopped at Walmart and they could use them for holiday food, or a gift for themselves or someone else.

I got my mother good fancy Slip on sneakers after her stroke . Not having to tie them was great for her .

Homecooked meals in meal portion containers for the freezer/microwave .

Will sound odd but... Maybe a muff re: the stroke. My father’s stroke affected his right side and he often commented that his right hand felt chilled. So he wore a mitten if he was sitting still, like while watching tv or reading.

My husband has taken to wearing measuring tape suspenders and older men often remark that they’d love a set. My grandfather always wore suspenders.

Music cds? (if, like me, they still use a player, not a streaming service) Hits of the decade of their youth. Or dvds. We have boxed sets of Carol Burnett, Get Smart, The Munsters, Addams Family, etc. Our kids loved watching them with us.

A long handled shoe horn .

Lap blankets are good. Shawls for the ladies. Audio books. MukLuks. Offer to Ghostwrite her memories. Banana bread, Bath salts, Read aloud sessions. Small pointsettia. deck of cards, weekly dog visit. pretty tissue box. wall clock. Wipes.
Placemat size tray. Dish garden. organize a collection (maybe family photos, cards, quarters, recipes) Prayer book. Ugly Christmas sweater. Gift card and trip to Fantastic Sam's etc.

if They live at home with caregivers, see if their yard needs mowing or cleaning up. A free housecleaning. Go pick up the groceries. Take a senior with you while you run your or their errand. Take the pet to the vet for routine shots or whatnot. Helping the elderly person’s caregiver helps the elderly person indirectly. Maybe the caregiver could just visit with them instead of having to manage all the errands and housework. Thanks for asking.

I struggled with my mom. She was very practical. I ended up getting her gifts that were related to the things she loved. She was a seamstress and loved to garden. In my case, I could visit every day. I planted fresh flowers outside of her bedroom and we watered them together each day. As her dementia progressed, I had her sort color buttons and roll my yarn into balls. It reminded her of her profession and she was good at it.

She loved her nails painted. I bought nail files and polish for her. As she declined, I would do her nails for her. Love the ideas about a pedicure and day spa.

I found that if you understand their history you can come up with great gift ideas that compliment their favorite things,