I often focus on the challenges of gifting when it comes to the Moms and Grandmothers who I work with. There can be truly overwhelming results for these older clients when multiple gifts are lovingly offered over decades of special occasions by well-meaning daughters, sons, in-laws, grandchildren and great grandchildren… .
I have to say that many of these presents sit in drawers, cupboards and closets, not worn, not used and often sadly forgotten by everyone involved until we discover them during our downsizing process. These things rarely find themselves on the “must take” list when Mom moves to smaller space. When my clients work with an objective and caring Senior Move Manager they can release any residual guilt and are gratefully relieved to be parting with these items. You know the things that I am talking about, the gifts that seemed like a good idea at the time, but … . Most of us have been guilty of giving at least a few of them.
Of course I also work with older gentlemen as they prepare to transition to a condo or more often, a retirement residence. It is true that there are a greater number of older women than men who find they are flying solo in their elder years. I frequently work with women who are either widowed or divorced and these are followed closely in numbers by couples who are now ready to make the transition from homes that they may have lived in for decades.
But I do work with gentlemen who are unattached. Of course it is a sad reality that women currently often outlive their male counterparts but there are other societal issues at play. To examine these would entail more space than this blog post allows but I can tell you that these unattached men are very popular indeed in the retirement residences … .
I have also observed a few things when working with these older clients. While there are exceptions, they tend to accumulate less stuff and they tend to be less attached to it. They may have more tools than they have been inclined to use over the last couple of decades but they typically don’t amass the volume of clothes and they definitely don’t have the same amount of household tchotchkes. It may be that Father’s Day has never commanded the same attention as Mother’s Day but in the “less is more” category they clearly come out winners when it is time to downsize and move!
Does that mean that there has been less focus over the years on gift giving for Dads? Do we believe that Dad will tend to buy whatever he needs but that Mom will really appreciate receiving gifts that she might not buy for herself?
Whatever it is, Dads typically don’t get the same level of consumer attention on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 21st.. Dads too can benefit from gifts of experiences, consumables and services but honestly our presence, if possible, could well be the best gift of all!
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