What to buy grannie

aggie No marks to me for my descriptions. Not night attire but daytime wear. More a woollen cape/cardigan.

I've bought two short fleece dressing gowns which are bed jackets by any other name. They are wonderful for our perishingly cold bedroom for reading in bed without having to get out of bed to take a proper dressing gown off at night which anyway gets tangled up. They are not expensive and in M&S . About £12 I think

Yes, as mentioned in my post yesterday aggie

Just agreeing, not trying to point score.

Eloethan , I think you have described a bed jacket ? I remember knitting them , very popular with older ladies

My mum, who is 95, is very difficult to buy presents for. The one thing that she has found very useful is a knitted, armless, sort of cape-cum- cardigan with a fur trim. It slips easily round her shoulders if she feels chilly and it looks quite modern and stylish.

I think the simple-to-operate CD player that granjura suggested is quite a good idea, with perhaps a CD of old songs.

A manicure?

Arh thanks everyone. Some lovely suggestions. Poor mum, I wish I could give her what she wants most..sigh

What about arranging for a mobile beauty or holistic therapist to visit to give her a treatment like a hand/foot massage or something? Many dementia sufferers find the hand stroking of a massage calming, but maybe she would just like a bit of pampering.

I just Googled beauty treatments for elderly and lots of results came up. The home might even be able to recommend someone. This blog looks interesting.

Mobile Holistic Beauty Grooming Treatments for Elderly Disabled people

I think if she is profoundly deaf, gj that might not work too well, even with headphones. (Yesterday, 21.39) Although maybe big headphones would work?

The simplest possible cd player- and some cds of traditional British songs. My mil already got advanced Alzheimers and stopped communicating- but when we went to South Africa, we bought her tapes of traditional SA songs in Afrikaans, including childrens' songs. When we first played to her- she suddenly lit up and tried to sing along- and the nurse played them several times a day- and that was the only happy time of every day.

I think nice hand cream, eau de toilette etc However good a care home there is so often a "smell" around.
It's possibly too late to compile a Photobook printed up with nostalgic pics, but check out CEWE they are very quick. You scan in the photos you want to use, including a front and back cover and you arrange your own layout and order, also captions if you want. An hour or so to scan your pics, the same to do the book and it is usually back within a few days.

I can't really ask her until I see her next week. She's 200+ miles away. She profoundly deaf so that makes it harder. I did have a little giggle about the cake and a file, depending on her mood so would she. This time last year she had a life and now well, she hasn't. It's so sad. She has more visitors than most and is taken out once or twice a week. Shes feisty, frustrated and furious about what's happening. I don't blame her. Thanks for the suggestions they are very helpful.

Why not ask her?

www.playlistforlife.org.uk/#2649

Having read the second sentence of your post, my first instinct was to say a cake with a file in it, but the digital photo frame seems like a better idea!

One of those digital photo frames with old photos scanned in of when she and her family were in her glory days.its godd for the staff to see that the patient was not always as they are now.

Can she manage to listen to audio books? They can 'take you out of yourself' and help relieve that locked in feeling.

Or Saga, which she also enjoyed.

I keep reading this as 'Want to buy a Grannie' and wondered which one of us had misbehaved soooooo badly!

A photo album or this is your life type book [available on the internet] are things my Mum liked before she got too bad. Or a subscription to a magazine - my mum enjoyed Readers Digest [is that still around?]

A cosy bed jacket or blanket, nice toiletries a potter plant for her room, a framed photo of the family.
Could she still manage a book of cross words ?

Some evocative perfume, bath gel etc. maybe you could find out what she liked in the past.

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