Gifts for Parents: Shared Ideas for Mom and Dad (or the In-Laws)
By the Giftruly editorsUpdated 21 hand-picked ideas
Your parents have probably been running the same household for longer than you've been alive. They know whose side of the bed is whose, who makes the coffee and who does the crossword, and they've had thirty-odd years to buy whatever they needed. That's why "we don't need anything" is usually true, and why one gift for the two of them is harder than buying for either of them alone.
The gifts that work fit into the life they share rather than the house they own. A new toaster is a chore with a bow on it. A better night's sleep, a reason to go out on a Thursday or an easy way to see the grandkids on a Sunday afternoon is something they'll both feel. This page is organized around those moments: the comfort upgrades they keep putting off, the years after the kids leave, outings, a word on buying for your partner's parents, small thank-yous, living far apart and, to finish, gifts that hold on to the family's story.
Shopping for December? Our Christmas gifts for parents guide is built around the holidays. To buy for one of them on their own, see gifts for mom and gifts for dad, and for a younger pair, try gifts for couples.
Know exactly who it's for?
Tell Truly about them in a sentence. You'll get ideas picked for them, each with a reason why.
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Three that suit almost any pair
The upgrades they keep putting off
Parents are experts at making do. The towels came from a wedding registry, the comforter has gone flat, and the mattress has a dip in the middle that one of them pretends not to notice. They'll replace the car before they replace any of it, because it all still technically works.
That's exactly what makes these good joint gifts. Both of them use them every day, and neither will ever get around to buying them.
- Our favorite1
Dual-Control Heated Mattress Pad
~$100
Almost every long marriage has one person who sleeps with the window cracked and one who wears socks to bed. This pad has a separate controller for each side, so one of them can warm their half while the other leaves theirs off, and nobody has to negotiate. Check their bed size before ordering, and choose a model with automatic shut-off. It's a quiet gift that gets used every night from October to April.
- 2
Goose Down Comforter
~$280
If their comforter dates from when you still lived at home, this is the splurge. Down is light for how warm it is, and a good one lasts a decade or more. Buy it in their bed size and pick an all-season weight if you're not sure how warm their bedroom runs. It's easy for siblings to split, and it doesn't need explaining.
- 3
Turkish Cotton Bath Towel Set
~$70
Thick, absorbent towels are one of those things people notice every morning and still never buy. A matching set also quietly retires the faded beach towels and the ones with bleach spots. Choose a plain color that goes with their bathroom, or white if you can't remember what that is; white is hard to get wrong.
- 4
Bamboo Breakfast in Bed Tray with Folding Legs
~$35
A tray with fold-down legs for Sunday coffee in bed, the crossword, or toast in front of the morning news. It's a gentle nudge toward slower starts for parents who've been getting up at six for forty years. Pair it with a bag of good coffee or a jar of their favorite jam so it gets used the very first weekend.
Now that it's just the two of them
When the last kid moves out, a lot of parents find their evenings suddenly open and their grocery list suddenly wrong. Some love it immediately. Others rattle around a bit, still cooking for five and wondering what to do with the big dining table.
Gifts for this stage should give the two of them something to share that isn't about you. Think new routines, not nostalgia.
- 5
Cookbook for Two
~$20
Plenty of parents keep cooking family-sized batches out of habit and then eat the same chili for four nights running. A cookbook built around two portions solves a real, slightly funny problem, and it works best for parents who like to cook together on weeknights. Skip it if neither of them enjoys cooking; it will only sit on a shelf next to the others.
- 6
Bluetooth Record Player
~$70
Most parents of a certain age have a crate of LPs in the basement that hasn't been played since the old stereo gave out. A simple turntable with built-in speakers brings them back into the living room. Help carry the crate upstairs when you give it, and stay for the first album. Serious audio fans will want separate speakers, but for a Saturday night with their old records, this is plenty.
- 7
Wooden Backgammon Set with Folding Board
~$45
Backgammon is a game two people can play a thousand times without it going stale: quick rounds, some luck and more strategy than it first appears. A wooden folding set looks good left out on the coffee table, which is how games actually get played. If they've never learned, tuck a printed rules sheet inside and teach them on your next visit.
Reasons to get them out of the house
Retired or not, many couples settle into a rhythm where going out feels like more effort than it's worth. A gift that comes with somewhere to go removes most of that effort. Write a suggested date on the card; it turns a nice idea into a plan.
- 8~$50
Restaurant Gift Card
A card for the restaurant they love but only visit on anniversaries. Pick a place near them, and make the amount cover dinner for two with dessert.
experience - 9~$100
Experience Gift Card (Cooking Class, Spa, Adventure)
A voucher they choose from together: a cooking class, a tasting, a boat tour. Good for parents who'd enjoy something new but would never book it for themselves.
Home Cooksexperience - 10~$32
Scratch-Off National Parks Passport and Stamp Kit
For parents with a camper, a road atlas or a fresh retirement. Each park they visit gets marked off, which turns "we should travel more" into an actual list.
TravelersHikers & Campersfun - 11~$90
Binoculars for Bird Watching
If one of them has started naming the birds at the feeder, good binoculars turn an ordinary walk into an outing. One pair to share works, though two avoids squabbles.
Hikers & CampersScience Nerdspractical
When they're your partner's parents
Buying for in-laws is its own skill. You're giving to two people who love your partner, who may still be getting to know you, and who have their own long history of family gifts. The safest approach is a joint present from both of you, chosen with your partner's help. Let your partner veto anything, and let them sign the card first for the first few years. Food, outings and anything with the grandkids' fingerprints on it are almost always welcome.
A few things are best avoided. Skip anything that comments on their home, their health or their age, however practical it seems; a grab bar from a son-in-law lands very differently than it would from their own child. Hold off on big-ticket gifts early on, too, since they can read as showing off. Our guides to gifts for your mother-in-law and father-in-law go further, but the short version is simple: ask your partner what their parents talked about the last time you visited, and buy for that.
For the babysitting weekend or the borrowed truck
Parents do a lot of unglamorous favors: a weekend with the grandkids, the pickup truck for moving day, an airport run at 5 a.m. These cost under $30, small enough to hand over without fuss and specific enough to show you noticed.
12.Clear Window Bird Feeder Tray ~$18
A clear feeder that sticks to the kitchen window, so they can watch chickadees over breakfast. Fill it with seed before you leave.
13.1000-Piece Jigsaw Puzzle ~$20
Leave one on their dining table after they've watched the kids. Choose a picture full of color and detail; big plain skies drive people mad.
14.Wooden Recipe Box with Recipe Cards ~$25
Write out a few recipes they cooked for you growing up, then leave the rest of the cards blank for them. Small, cheap and oddly moving.
15.Cheese Knife Set ~$22
For the parents who always put out cheese and crackers when you drop by, always with the same butter knife. Easy to wrap and easy to use.
When you live a few states away
Distance changes what a good gift is. When you only see them twice a year, the best presents make the months in between feel shorter: easier calls, more pictures, a small sign that someone's thinking of them.
Set up anything with a screen or an app before you hand it over. Parents who are perfectly capable with technology still don't want to spend an afternoon creating accounts.
- 16
Smart Speaker with Display
~$90
A countertop screen that makes a video call as simple as saying who to call, with no phone propped against the sugar jar. Between calls it shows photos, the weather and kitchen timers. It's ideal for parents who love seeing the grandkids but find phone video calls fiddly. Add your own contact before you wrap it, and make a test call together so they've done it once.
- 17
Long-Distance Friendship Touch Lamps
~$62
These come as a pair: one lamp stays at your place and the other goes to your parents. When either side taps theirs, the other one lights up. It's a gentle way to say goodnight across time zones without a phone call, and parents who worry about you tend to find it reassuring. Both lamps need Wi-Fi, so check their setup first.
- 18
Custom Photo Wall Calendar
~$25
Twelve months of family photos, with everyone's birthdays printed on the right days. For parents who live far from their kids, it's a year of small updates hanging next to the fridge. Choose recent pictures from all the branches of the family; they've already seen the beach photo from 2014 plenty of times.
Gifts that keep the family story
At some point most families realize that their history lives in two people's heads and a few boxes in the hall closet. Gifts that help gather it up are some of the most meaningful you can give parents, partly because the parents themselves are part of the project.
- 19
Mail-In Photo and Video Digitizing Kit
~$90
Every family has a box of camcorder tapes, slides or loose prints that nobody has looked at in twenty years, mostly because nothing in the house can play them anymore. A mail-in kit sends them off to be scanned and returns digital copies along with the originals. Check which formats it covers and how many items are included before you buy. Then gather everyone for the first viewing.
- 20
Tell Me Your Story Memory Journal
~$25
A guided book of questions about childhood, first jobs, how they met and what they remember of their own parents. For a couple, consider buying two so each of them tells it their own way; the differences are half the fun. Some parents fill it in within a week and others need a nudge, so ask about one question each time you call.
- 21
Custom House Portrait Illustration
~$65
A drawing of the house you grew up in, or the one they've lived in since retiring, made from a photo. It means even more when your parents are talking about downsizing, because it keeps the house after the keys are handed over. Send a clear, straight-on photo taken on a bright day, with no cars parked in front.
Shop this guide by price
Under $25
$25–$50
$50–$100
Before you buy for both of them
Buy for the life they share, not for the house. If only one of them will use it, it's really a gift for one person with the other's name on the tag.
Listen for small complaints on the phone: the cold side of the bed, the photos stuck on someone's laptop, the restaurant they keep meaning to try. That's your shopping list.
If you have siblings, compare notes before buying anything. Three photo calendars in the same year is a lot of calendars.
Set up anything with a screen, an app or a subscription yourself, and give it ready to use.
Still stuck? Tell our gift finder about your parents in a sentence or two, such as how they spend a typical weekend, and you'll get a short list picked for the pair of them.
Questions about gifts for parents
What do you get parents who say they don't want anything?
Believe them about objects and give them time or things they'll use up: a restaurant gift card with a date attached, a cooking class, a food gift, or a project like digitizing old family videos. Gifts that involve you, like a game you'll play on your next visit, count too.
What's a good gift for parents who live far away?
Something that makes keeping in touch easier: a smart display for video calls, a pair of touch lamps, or a photo calendar. Set up any device before you send it, and schedule the first call.
How much should I spend on a gift for my parents?
There's no rule. A joint gift often comes to roughly what you'd have spent on each of them separately, but many of the best ideas here cost under $50. Bigger gifts, like a down comforter or a heated mattress pad, are easy to split with siblings.
What should I get my in-laws?
A joint gift from you and your partner, chosen with your partner's input: food, a restaurant card, something involving the grandkids, or a game for your next visit. Avoid anything that hints at their home, health or age.
What are good gifts for empty nesters?
Gifts that support a new routine for two: a cookbook scaled for two people, a turntable for the old records, a backgammon set, or a voucher for a class or a trip. Aim for something they'll enjoy together, not a reminder that the house is quiet.