I need a gift idea

[cronewitch]

My brother and his wife deserve a great gift this year. They take care of mom and treat their kids and grandkids and me all the time. Thankgiving they paid for dinner for 7 including tip for example. Everyone gathers at their house and they provide great food, help the kids remodel their houses and babysit the grandkids.

They seem to have everything and do everything they want to do. They run a small business in the home and collect rent from mom. They have 3 pensions and one SS check and will get another in the spring plus the money that is in the 403B the broker sends them money from every month.

So I don't want to give them anything for the house or money or even an experience like another cruise.

[servant_of_dog]

Nov 24, 2012 13:04:23 GMT -5 cronewitch said:

My brother and his wife deserve a great gift this year. They take care of mom and treat their kids and grandkids and me all the time. Thankgiving they paid for dinner for 7 including tip for example. Everyone gathers at their house and they provide great food, help the kids remodel their houses and babysit the grandkids.

They seem to have everything and do everything they want to do. They run a small business in the home and collect rent from mom. They have 3 pensions and one SS check and will get another in the spring plus the money that is in the 403B the broker sends them money from every month.

So I don't want to give them anything for the house or money or even an experience like another cruise.

a new car? High end restaurant gift certificates? Hire a lawn service for them? I would suggest a set of Wustof knives and salt and pepper grinders, but you said nothing for the house.

[Deleted]

Hire a chef to prepare one of those meals they host for everyone.

[weltschmerz]

Do they like the theater or other entertainment venues? You could pay for live shows maybe once a month or every two months. I don't know where they live, but there's a huge array of wonderful shows here all the time that I would give my eye teeth to see, from Cirque du Soleil to pop singers to classical music to the ballet.

[Deleted]

Omaha steaks have nice quality meats, although a bit expensive. You want to look for coupons for the packages.

12 months of fruit from one of the Florida groves? I've gotten some exquisite fruit from those!

Do brother & wife have any hobbies? Fishing, theater, racquet ball, movies?

[Colleenz]

A family zoo membership? Local museum membership? Harry and David fruit of the month?

[cronewitch]

I might have come up with an idea, gutter cleaning. The pine tree over the front of the house sheds huge needles so one piece of gutter needs cleaned about once a week sometimes. They pay the 16 year old grandson to mow the lawn, I could pay him to clean the gutters. This kills three of my goals, I want to keep my brother off of ladders since he has medical issues and a bad back, gives him a nice gift and gives the boy money to save for college. I was thinking of gifting the boy some money for college anyhow. They give him $100 to mow the lawn so if I give him $100 to clean the gutters he can put gas in his vehicle and save for college. He goes to community college now and loves it, his dad doesn't think he needs college so probably won't help him, parents divorcing now.

[Peace77]

Sounds like a win-win idea, cronewitch.

[Deleted]

Nov 24, 2012 13:41:23 GMT -5 cronewitch said:

I might have come up with an idea, gutter cleaning. The pine tree over the front of the house sheds huge needles so one piece of gutter needs cleaned about once a week sometimes. They pay the 16 year old grandson to mow the lawn, I could pay him to clean the gutters. This kills three of my goals, I want to keep my brother off of ladders since he has medical issues and a bad back, gives him a nice gift and gives the boy money to save for college. I was thinking of gifting the boy some money for college anyhow. They give him $100 to mow the lawn so if I give him $100 to clean the gutters he can put gas in his vehicle and save for college. He goes to community college now and loves it, his dad doesn't think he needs college so probably won't help him, parents divorcing now.


You could have gutter guards installed on their rain gutters to prevent the problems.

I also support the Harry and David suggestion as they have great products and provide very good jobs in our area!

[kdamron]

Your love and your time with them. In the end that is all they will remember.

[MarleyKeezy78]

Gutter guards are a great idea! What if the kid falls off the roof? Only my personal fear, scares the bejesus out of me! Do they have landscaping to be weeded? I'd pay someone to do that ;D


ETA: modified to reflect I weed my own landscaping