Gift Certificate Form.Doc: Fill & Download for Free

How do you get your stubborn aging parents to take better care of themselves and be more proactive about their health? (I never used to put the original question in my answer, but people keep diddling with questions post-answer.)I was going to ask YOU the same thing about my adult son! Sigh.All my good raising, juicing, making him eat veggies and fruit, and how’s his diet? Let’s just say if you left a baby out in the wild and it was found and raised by wolves….Wait. Another piece of the puzzle just fell into place.Regardless of my previous statement, I really did set him on the right dietary path, though he’s chosen not to follow it rigorously. (Psst! Because he’s an adult! I can’t ‘make’ him.) Besides making my son eat right and get plenty of exercise when I had the chance, he’s also seen me practice what I preach, though I’m not a martinet about it. (Hint, hint.)He has my general excellent health to set him an example. I’m at an age when most people are on blood pressure meds, have diabetes, or are heart attacks waiting to happen, and so far, with much dint of looking, me and my doc haven’t found anything wrong with my engine or parts, so far.As usual, there aren’t too many details in this question; in what ways are your parents being ‘stubborn’?Do they adhere to my general principle of staying 100 feet from all medical personnel in order to maintain optimum health, and won’t see a doctor about every little thing?Are they enjoying too much of the simple pleasures of life like liquor, ice cream, and tobacco?Do they believe that the sofa and television comprise a gateway to Paradise and are all one needs to get the answers to life’s little conundrums, and thus haven’t moved certain muscles since 1964?My son has a penchant for looking up vague or urgent symptoms on the internet. Bleeding from the ears qualifies as urgent. Get thee to a doctor.Like me, if he hears what his symptoms might mean and how one who has these symptoms will likely die a painful death within the month, if not while they’re actually reading the diagnosis, it’s often times enough to get a person’s bottom motivated, at least temporarily.As soon as you hear your mom say, “Oh, my aching back!” after she’s vacuumed the house, you jump right onto WebMD on your phone, and after pretending to read a minute, you tell her in dark tones, “Mom, that sounds like you have fibromalcontent verbatim bifurcatum. It’s very serious. You need to walk every day to get rid of it. I’ll do it with you, because I love you so much and want you to be around for many more years.”Maybe you can at least get them to take after dinner walks with you. Show up every day as you’re walking by on YOUR walk. All they have to do is ‘fall in’.If you’re close to your parents, or you want to get closer, ask one or both of them to join the Sierra Club and hike with you. Ask them to learn golf with you. Give them a gift certificate for twenty classes in tango!Tango-ing gets ALL kinds of healthy juices flowing. Just watching professionals do it can cause you to get arrested for drooling in public.There are a million gift certificates for learning something physical you can buy them. Or a gift certificate for bowling? It’s not a lot of exercise, but it’s something. You could ask to plant a garden with them in their backyard. Hauling, digging, watering, raking-that’s a lot of work.Buy them bicycles. Even if the bikes are the battery operated kind, they may get your parents interested in biking together.For diet, buy them the Fruit of the Month membership! Go to their house as soon as the box shows up.Tell them your blood pressure and sugar counts are too high, find out what theirs are, and have a contest as to who can get their numbers down further and faster, and then have a prize of some kind for the winner. Same with weight, if that concerns you.What I’m getting at is, make it a ‘family affair’. And detach from it if they are adamant about just having a beer and watching Jeopardy. They’ve earned it.

Even though it was very moving, I couldn’t help recalling a long-ago episode of The Tonight Show when Johnny Carson was the host.Johnny’s fans remember his recurring feature, “Stump the Band,” where he’d go into the audience and call on guests to say the name of an actual song. If no one in Doc Severinsen’s orchestra recognized the song and could sing it, the audience member would have to sing it in order to receive a gift certificate for a Los Angeles-area restaurant.One night Johnny called on two or three young black men. The band didn’t know their song, so the young men sang it. Alas, they were so off-key that Johnny quipped, “Well, you don’t all have rhythm.”Obama’s sincerity was better than his ability to carry a tune.

Not a doctor; responding to A2A.In the States, for sure, we do not tip our doctors.However, I do think as so many go above and beyond, that some manner of thank you gift and/or remembrance at Christmas or such, is fine.I would suggest not making/gifting “things” they will need to find a place to display. So a painting or such would be a bad idea in my mind. Possibly something like a fruit basket is appropriate. Depending on the size and type of practice, other options might work. If it is a relatively small office (you define that) you might consider a gift certificate to a local food place—I’d remind you of the fact most grocery stores DO have “salad bars,” “hot prepared foods,” and more. Or possibly a gift certificate to a restaurant. Would be an opportunity for them to order in a lunch. I’d be reluctant to order pizzas or such—what if they’re gluten-free, on a diet, etc.? The gift certificate is more practical and allows them to pick. I smaller office just because to give people a real meal the cost per individual can still be significant. If there are four folks in the office you can get them fed for under $50 for sure; if there are a dozen or more, that $50 won’t do much. If you make good edible foods, that might be appropriate. Depends on how well you know the doc. Would a banana bread go over well? Vegetable plate with dips?Another option is if you believe you know about some charity the doc supports, you could make a donation in his name. I believe you normally can get something from the web site that indicates that. Put it in a nice card. The type of practice the doctor runs may give you good ideas. Think pediatricians and oncologists and more would be pleased to see funds go to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, for example.Many doctors go out of their way to ensure there are no strong odors in their offices, so choosing foods (esp. hot) or flowers or other gifts that might work well in some places might not be great choices for a doctor. I’ve brought in things like organic grapefruit and lemons that we grow. Even if someone were not keen on those, hard to believe an entire office would have no takers. If so, there are neighbours or patients who would appreciate the fruit.The thought does count, esp. these days…(Lots of doc bashing out there.)