Aging Parents: Mother’s Day 2013-Gifts To Use Up–thoughtful/delicious/exciting/pampering/practical 2013

"I don' want anything that takes up space or I have to dust.

I just want my children to be together and get along."

74-year-old grandmother

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The Best Cell Phones For Seniors

"I just got my new cell  phone, and it's one that I  can understand, outsmart, and know how  to operate!!!  I got it at  the Verizon Cell Phone for Seniors store at the mall!"

This email was forwarded to me by a friend following my telephone posts of April 9 and 12. (Love it when people send ideas for my blog.)  I did some research but am also anxiously waiting to hear from the originator of the forwarded email above. I'm want to know exactly which cell phone has empowered her.

What is the best cell phone for aging parents? I thought PC magazine might have the answer.  Its three-page article "The Top Simple Cell Phones"  (Feb. 2011) offers excellent information in text, plus ratings and a slide show of seven phones. I knew Jitterbug (third page) was senior-user-friendly, but had little knowledge about the other cell phones.

Another review of cell phones for seniors,http://reviews.cnet.com/cell-phones-for-seniors/, (updated April 2011) lists only one phone on PC Magazine's list: Doro Phone Easy 410. The comments at the end from adult children purchasing cell phones for parents and grandparents offer an additional perspective.

I was completely clueless about Verizon Senior Stores.  Google and Yahoo are always a first line of research for me and I found several Verizon Senior Stores are located somewhat near me.  While three stores had ratings and comments, the sample of respondents is too small to be valid by any research standards. Yet some stores appear to be more senior client-centered than others. There were rave reviews, for example, about a certain saleswoman at one of the Verizon Senior Stores, while some people complained about service at other stores.

Cell phones are a real convenience and can obviously save lives in an emergency. Check out the offerings.  Clearly a user-friendly cell phone is a necessity as we try to help parents and older people age well.  The right cell phone encourages connections, is a practical gift, and will hopefully empower older people just as it empowered the writer of the forwarded email that began this post.

And what was this cell phone that she could understand, outsmart and know how to operate with such enthusiasm? I promise to post the name as soon as I hear from her.

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Holiday Gifts for Aging Parents--3: Mothers

Holiday Gifts for aging/old/older mothers continues but first--

Sr. advisor, R, was able to join--with wheelchair-- the family Thanksgiving celebration.  And it was a gift for her and for the 12 of us. In our efforts to help parents age well, we were careful not to exhaust her--although not completely successful.  A lot of stimulation is fun, but uses energy that is in shorter supply in older people making it difficult for them to gear down after such experiences.  But it made for good sleeping for R that night, once back at the rehab center.

Giving mobility-challenged older people the gift of an outing, if one does this alone, may merit practice with loading and unloading a wheel chair or walker; and may present initial stress.  The staff at care centers is helpful, we found, offering a mini lesson.  In our case, the actual transporting to and from our car was no problem and went more smoothly than the mini lesson.

R says this first outing gave her the confidence to go out again. My husband thinks a drive; I think a drive with lunch.  We'll see. Of one thing we're certain, she will not go out holiday shopping. That said, she did ask for one of her catalogs and a looked-forward-to appeal letter so she could order Christmas gifts for those special people (younger than we) who live near and are dear to her; and to make certain a local food bank gets its annual Christmas donation.

Holiday Gifts for aging/old/older mothers continued from: http://helpparentsagewell.blogspot.com/2010/11/holiday-gifts-for-aging-parents-2.html

Draper's & Damon's drapers.com (800-843-1174) advertises a "full selection of misses, petites, and women's" clothing.  They also have: flat-front pull-on pants as well as those with all-around elastic waist bands, Alfred Dunner, Da Rue, additional unnamed manufacturers, and many separates shown with color-coordinated jewelry.  This takes the guesswork out of coordinating a stylish outfit. Skirts (both long and a bit below-the-knee styles ) and coordinated sporty jackets and pants in velour and other fabrics round out their offerings.  If you link to them you will also learn of their store locations (in 6 states).

Coldwater Creek www.coldwatercreek.com (800-262-0040), with stores throughout the country, presented a fashion show at our Woman's Club using some 70+-year-olds members (among others).  I was impressed with the stylish transformation--do I dare say--that CC 's clothing made in some of the women with less than perfect figures.  (Not surprisingly, those models ended up purchasing the clothing they modeled--and more.) Coldwater Creek has clothes suitable for all ages. The variety of styles and coordinating colors make it easy to put a good-looking outfit together.

Chico's chicos.com (888-855-4986), like Coldwater Creek, has many stores whose location you can easily find on the web. Clothes are suitable for all ages, with attractive clothing and jewelry suitable for older mothers.  Check out the shawl-type cardigans (no buttons)--warm and cozy while giving a contemporary look

I visited a Chico's and a Coldwater Creek store today. The sales people were most helpful suggesting clothes for older women. Also go online. If you like what you see and it conforms to your mother's challenges and needs, you may be surprised at what works for older women.

If you believe in "look good, feel better," an attractive addition to an older woman's wardrobe can accomplish this--another way we can help our parents age well.

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Gifts for Aging Parents--2: Mothers

There's a never-worn St. John knit hanging in my closet.  Normally a very pricey label, it was so inexpensive (these are the "buys" you can find in NY) I couldn't resist getting it for my mother years ago--her size, her color, two piece. But she never wore it.  Why?  At age 83, she tactfully told me that she didn't wear short sleeves because of flabby arms. Who knew?

Something to think about after we celebrate Thanksgiving and the shopping begins: our aging parents' particular wants and needs, as well challenges, when selecting clothing.  Can can they button and unbutton easily? What about hooks and eyes? clasps to necklaces? things that zip, button in back etc. etc.  Do they want to downplay/hide certain parts of their body??

Senior advisor, R., has always had success with catalogs.  And she always looks well-put-together. Older people and non-computer-types still shop this way, although almost all catalogs include an e-mail address for shopping on line...plus an 800 #.

The list below is carefully selected from catalogs I know older people like, with flattering styles for older people as well as others.  While clearly not all-inclusive, in addition to daywear, these catalogs offer accessories, jewelry and sleepwear plus other gift ideas.  I definitely believe in "look good, feel better." The following can help achieve this as we try to help parents age well.

For older women (as well as others), check out:
www.togshop.com especially Alfred Dunner and Koret, two manufacturers whose clothes aging mothers can wear and look well-put-together.

• Alfred Dunner's pull on pants coordinate with tops.  The all-around elastic waist bands, while easy to pull up, can be an issue for certain figures; but not necessarily, when hidden under coordinated tops.
• Koret eliminates the all-around elastic problem on some clothes by manufacturing flat front pants and skirts with elastic in the back or has "hidden elastic" in the waist that expands up to two inches on each side.

www.drapers.com features attractive clothes by other manufacturers than those in The Tog Shop, with the exception of Da Rue, a more expensive line that appears on random pages.  My mother loved this maker's "blouson" a decade ago.

Note: Since we're trying to help aging parents with "perfect" gifts that also help them age well and avoid problems:

• Check the "cozy" gifts: slippers (be certain the soles are non-slippery), robes (are snap-down the front preferable to zipper-types?).
• Beware baggy pants, due to the "pull-up" feature. While they're no problem for some, they do nothing for certain aging figures, unless hidden under tops and/or jackets.
• Check whether or not clothes are washable
• Check return policy
• Google a manufacturer--I notice both Alfred Dunner and Koret have on-line outlets.

To be continued Saturday.  Happy Thanksgiving.

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