12 Great Gift Ideas for Baby Boomer Women

We “mature” babes (who are never really going to get old) enjoy holidays and gift occasions as much as we did when we were eight years old. Since baby boomers worship youth and don’t trust anyone over thirty, we easily retain our inner child joie de vivre. In our honest opinion, The Peter Pan Syndrome has many admirable features. Therefore, feel free to delight us with gifts for winter holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, special occasions, or no occasion at all!

We will admit that a few age-related concessions, however, may be appropriate for us. Better stated: generation-related considerations. Remember, we are healthy, active, and VERY sassy. Yet, we are, or SHOULD be, starting to “slightly-lightly” consider paring down our material possessions. Of course, this is not in preparation for the retirement life-care phased community. It is in preparation for taking off to start a new life in the Virgin Islands, silly!

Thus, these suggestions follow as a starting point for the perplexed or clueless gift givers. Most do not require renting another storage unit or building an addition on to the abode.

Bookstore gift certificate. We prefer one to a local independently owned used bookstore, because we are socially conscious, politically aware and correct, and want to keep money in our own communities while saving trees, etc etc.

However, if no such store exists in your Boomer Gal’s area, an on-line bookstore will be fine.

Certificate to a nail emporium. Even though our brains know that the application of colored plastic film to our appendages’ nails is pretty danged insane, we have bought into our culture’s marketing of the practice as enhancing attractiveness. So, let us indulge in this guilty pleasure. Plus, with the pedicure one gets a nice foot and leg massage.

Speaking of massage, a much more healthy option is a certificate to a legitimate massage studio. Very relaxing. Very eastern medicine healthy. Does our health insurance help pay for this?

Tuition to a yoga class, or kick boxing, or Pilates, etc., whatever floats her happiness boat.

Perfumed dusting powder. Get the kind we slap onto our bods after a refreshing shower or bath. It is quite indulgent. Not the make-up kind of powder.

Gourmet chocolates, coffees, tea, or exotic treats. Yummmm. It lets her know she is special and it doesn’t occupy shelf space for too long.

Certificate for three hours of a professional consultant in feng shui. We get relaxed just thinking about it.

Airline tickets to go visit our kids, our siblings, or our friends. If you are really rich, make it tickets to Aruba in February (and also arrange with our boss for vacation time, thanks.)

An adventure excursion. Let the Boomer Gal sky-dive or parasail or do an Outward Bound course. If she is the adventure type, that is.

Event tickets. Rock concert, NASCAR, Broadway, or something equally wonderful in your Boomer’s eyes. Add a meal and maybe a penthouse hotel stay. You only live once!

A handmade (or computer made) certificate for a service from you. Examples are: doing the vacuuming for a month. (Now you must follow through and really do it, cutie!!!) OR, to take her for a walk at the free, public Botanical Gardens certificate. OR, I will refrain from watching football on TV for one whole weekend in order to accompany you to visit your Aunt Ethel. OR, I will sit with you to look at old family photo albums or old family movies/videos. We are sure you know what she’d love to do together with you.

Make her favorite dinner at home. The prerequisite for this frugal gift is skill. It aint a gift if you continually shout questions from the kitchen. And, packaged mac and cheese does not equal homemade macaroni and cheese.

A lottery ticket. If you and she are lucky, she’ll win big. However, if she doesn’t end up with more money in the bank, she still receives that interval of time where the possibility, the anticipation, the glimmer of hope, all produce lovely endorphins. It’s a no-lose gift.

Almost all these suggestions are for consumable items, so there is neither clutter nor need for more storage space. Her grateful memories will be huge, but the heart knows how to compress the file. Additionally, you will be the perceptive, sensitive, insightful family member or friend who truly understands women of the Boomer Belt.

Depending how you count, you may think there are more than 12 ideas here. Great! The more, the merrier!

Photos and text copyright 2011 Maren E. Morgan.