60th Birthday Gifts for Parents

Turning 60 is a big accomplishment; emphasize this with a thoughtful gift.

A 60th birthday is a major milestone for anyone. Celebrate the occasion by selecting a thoughtful, relevant gift that highlights your parent's personal accomplishments over the years. The gift can be humorous, serious or a mixture of the two, so consider your parent's personality in order to help you narrow down your options and select an appropriate gift item.

Test the Waters

Gauge your parent's attitude about turning 60 years of age; while this is a big accomplishment, and should sting a bit less than the 50th birthday he celebrated 10 years back, not everyone is so enthused to be turning another year older. If your parent is feeling down about aging, select a gift that affords him the opportunity to do or see something he's never experienced before. This kind of gift will help demonstrate that age is just a number, and that life doesn't slow down just because of another birthday. To that end, if your parent has a bad attitude about getting older, avoid gag gifts that poke fun at the milestone.

Saying It 60 Ways

It would be impossible create an exhaustive list of all the reasons you love your parents, so consider using the milestone age as inspiration to create a list of 60 reasons you appreciate your mom or dad. You can simply write the list on a nice piece of paper, or you can do a more creative presentation, like writing your reasons down on the back of 60 memorable family photographs. Other variations can include making a list of your parent's 60 most impressive accomplishments, 60 things you hope to do with your parent in the future or even a basket filled with 60 of your parent's favorite small things.

Celebrating the Future

A 60th birthday offers many opportunities to look back on past memories and accomplishments, but for a different spin on things, you can focus your gift on what your parent has to look forward to in the coming years. Help give your parent that extra push to pursue a lifelong dream by taking initiative with your gift. For instance, if your parent has always wanted to travel to Italy but hasn't made any moves to go for it, consider purchasing airfare as your gift. Even if your budget doesn't allow for something as extravagant as this, you can get the ball rolling by purchasing a gift like a pocket guide to learning Italian.

Teaching an Old Dog New Tricks

Turning 60 doesn't mean your parent doesn't still have plenty of room for intellectual and cultural growth, so focus your gift on continuing your parent's education. Sign her up for a special course you think she'd enjoy; this can be any kind of course, from learning about cooking techniques to taking a writer's workshop to getting voice lessons. Investigate some local options that fit your budget, and either go ahead and enroll your parent in the course or give her several options to choose from before locking in. If you think your parent will be uncomfortable taking a class by herself, volunteer to go with her or sign up a friend, family member or spouse to tag along.

References

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