What are some good Christmas gift ideas for a 61 year old woman to encourage health & wellness?

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Tara

My mother (61) retired two years ago from being a pre-k teacher. Since then, I worry about her health. She is single and doesn't have any friends who live in the area. Apart from myself (20) and my son(3), my younger brother (14) and younger cousin (19) live with her. She has become extremely anti-social and stubborn. She doesn't do much during the day aside from watch television, eat, and go grocery shopping. In her earlier years she traveled a lot, but doesn't seem to have an interest in it any longer. She does however, love art. She sees how active my lifestyle is and my son and she seems to take interest, but doesn't do anything about it. Apart from having high blood pressure (like me) she doesn't have any major health conditions that I am aware of though sometimes she complains about her ankles hurting. I feel like if I can find the perfect gift to encourage her to become more active and spend less time indoors, I may be on to something. The only outdoor activity/hobby she has is gardening, but during the colder seasons it isn't an option. I would like to begin by encouraging her to walk more just to get her out of the house more often or even encouraging her to begin by doing mild exercising indoors. Our house isn't that big so she doesn't get much exercise walking throughout the house. She seems genuinely interested in weight loss, but I guess she needs more motivation getting started. She has purchased exercise shoes, home DVDs, and diet plans but she never uses any of them. I am really trying to get her on a better track toward her overall health & wellness. I want her to become more active in her life also. If anyone has any ideas that could help, I would greatly appreciate it. I really want to start her off with a gift that she would like, and then encourage and support her from there.

Answer
You sound like you love your mother very much. If she loves art, then get her a complete artist set, so she can go outside and paint her surroundings. They can be quite expensive, getting the right ones, though. If you do not wish to spend so much money, than get her some novels. If she is a reader, than she can curl up inside on cold days and use books for pastime. Maybe get her some coffee or hot chocolate with 2 novels and that will make a perfect gift set!

Hope I could help!

What would be a nice gift to give a young 16 year old hispanic female who helps me translate from time to time?

light head

Within the last year and a half she has translated for me numerous times, and I thought it would be nice to get her a gift. I want to get her a gift that is respectful to her as a young woman and that respects her and her families economical ways of living.

I dont want to go with "make up/perfume/gift card"

any ideas?

Answer
probably the same gift you'd get a 16 year old caucasian female?

- You could get her the spanish version of your favorite book. Or just your favorite book.
- Bake something! Get in the kitchen and show off some family recipes! I often give baklava and spanikopita as gifts. They take a lot of effort, but they're always well received. If you don't have any family recipes, then make up a basket with cookies. (or if you're hopeless in the kitchen, go to a bakery and make a nice gift basket).
- She has to have some sort of interests beyond translating! Use those...
- Why not give her a little herb garden or some potted flowers? You could even make a nice planted arrangement for her.
- a little gift basket with face masks, foot lotions, body lotions, lip glosses and soaps.

I really think the candle thing is so overdone. Seriously, don't buy candles and smelly things. I have so many different candles at my place from gifts. I can only light so many candles at one time! Plus, I have two cats, so I can't even light a candle unless I'm right beside it supervising...

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