Gift ideas
90th birthday gift ideas that aren't another blanket
At ninety, people are usually giving things away, not collecting them. The presents that land are small, personal and from as many people as possible.
From everyone at once
- A book with a page from each person. Children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, old friends. Each adds a photo and a few sentences. See a 90th birthday photo book.
- Ninety memories. Ask the whole family for one-line memories until you have ninety. Write them on cards in a box, or put them in the book.
- A family photograph. Get everyone in one place and take a proper picture. Frame it for them and send every household a copy.
Small comforts
- A very good cardigan or pair of slippers in the right size. Ask whoever sees them most.
- Their favourite food from decades ago, tracked down: the biscuits, the sweets, the tinned thing nobody sells any more.
- Flowers every month for a year, in small bunches, not one enormous bouquet.
- A radio that's simple to use, tuned to their station.
Time
- A rota. The family agrees who visits or phones on which day for the next three months, and gives them the calendar.
- A trip to somewhere that matters: the old house, the church, the beach. Short, with plenty of sitting down.
- An afternoon going through their photo albums with a notebook, writing names on the backs.
For the party
Parties at ninety are tiring for the guest of honour. Keep it to an afternoon, seat them where people can come to them, and put something on the table that does the talking: the photo book, the old albums, a board of pictures by decade.
If they live in a care home
Check with the staff before you buy. Space is limited, some foods aren't allowed, and electrical items often need testing. Photos with names on, a soft throw in their colours, and good hand cream are safe choices. There's more in what to send someone in a care home.
Whatever you give, label it. Who is in the photo, who the present is from. It helps them, and it helps the people who look after them.