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Get well gift boxes, matched to the kind of recovery

Being ill is mostly boring. The first two days are dramatic and the fortnight afterwards is a person on a sofa with nothing to do and nobody around, which is the part nobody sends anything for. These four are built for that fortnight, and each is matched to a different kind of it.

Being ill is mostly boring. These are for the fortnight after. I pack every box by hand here in Canada.

Four boxes for a recovery, $99 and $119, and the rest of what I pack underneath.

The Cozy Recovery Box, a get well gift box packed by hand in Canada
An example of the card, written in your words

Iris. Stay in bed. Nothing here needs you.

From Tom

The Cozy Recovery Boxabout five things. About two more things at $119.From$99Buy now, $99: The Cozy Recovery Box, $99

Four boxes for four kinds of recovery

Four boxes matched to what is actually wrong, from $99 to $119. Every one of them comes in two sizes. The larger size of one is that same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked. A cold needs different things from an operation, and somebody stuck in bed for a month with nothing wrong with their hands needs something else again.

Not quite it? Every box on the site is in one place, sorted by price and by who it is for. Browse all of them and pick something else for the recovery.

Other boxes that suit somebody getting better

Each of these is sold here for another reason as well, so nothing on this page renames them.

If you want to spend more than this

These four stop at what these boxes cost, and a get well box that gets much bigger starts to look like something is seriously wrong, which is not the message you want on the doorstep. Eight boxes on the site run a ladder of three sizes instead: $119 for the smallest, $189 for the middle one and $299 for the fullest box I pack.

If it is more serious than a fortnight on the sofa, the two below are $299 each and are the largest boxes I pack. Neither is a get well box, so the card would carry the reason. Nothing on this page is a smaller gift for costing less.

Or start from every box I make, sorted by priceThe whole range, $70 to $299, including the sizes between these and those.

The card is the part that stays on the bedside table

A get well card does not have to be clever, and the jokes about hospital food have all been made. One warm line that takes the pressure off getting better quickly is enough. You type it at checkout, I write it out by hand, and it is the only thing in the box with words on it.

Stuck on the card? People start with something like:

"Stay in bed.""No rush getting back.""Let people help."

If the card is what is stopping you, here are a few you can send as they are, or change at checkout:

  • Short and warm"Get well soon. Thinking of you and sending comfort."
  • For a friend"Rest up and let people take care of you for once. I am here if you need anything."
  • After surgery"Take it slow and give yourself time to heal. No rushing. Thinking of you."
  • For a cold or the flu"Sending tea, rest and a speedy recovery. Feel better soon."
  • From the office or the team"We are not the same without you. Come back when you are ready, not a day sooner."
  • For a longer recovery"No timelines and no pressure. I am thinking of you through all of it."

There are more lines worth borrowing in my guide to writing a gift card message.

An example of the card, written in your words

Stay in bed and let people do things for you for once. Nothing here needs you this week.

From Tom

How to choose a get well gift

Match the box to the illness rather than to the person. It sounds cold and it is the opposite: somebody with the flu wants different things from somebody four days out of surgery, and a box that fits what is actually happening reads as attention rather than as a category.

For a cold or the flu

The Soothing Cold & Flu Box at $99 or $119. Tissues, something for a throat, honey and a mug that keeps a drink hot for longer than five minutes. Unglamorous and used up inside a week, which is the point of it.

After an operation

The Rest & Recharge Box at $99 or $119 is about sleep, because sleeping in a chair or propped up on pillows is most of what the first fortnight is. Nothing in it needs energy, and nothing in it has to be eaten.

For a long stretch with no end date

Two boxes from $99 to $119: the Cozy Recovery Box and the Boredom Buster Box. A recovery that is going to take months is the one where people send flowers in week one and nothing afterwards. Something to do with the hours is worth more by then than anything else in a box.

For whoever is looking after them

Nobody sends anything to the person doing the driving, the cooking and the appointments, and that person is usually more worn out than the patient. There is a box in the grid above that suits them better than anything on this sheet.

The shelves either side of this one

Get well only fits when somebody is going to get well. Two of the shelves next to this one are for the times when that is the wrong thing to say.

If the illness is chronic or the outlook is not good, the thinking of you boxes carry no recovery in them at all, which is usually the kinder shelf.

If somebody has died, the sympathy shelf is the quiet one: grey boxes, a grey ribbon and nothing celebratory in any of them.

And when they are back on their feet and it was you who was looked after, the thank you boxes are the other half of this.

You are not expected to send all of them. It is worth knowing the next one is here when it comes around.

Questions people ask me

What do you send someone who is recovering at home?

Something matched to what is wrong rather than a general basket. A cold wants honey, tissues and a mug that holds heat; a long recovery wants something to do with the hours. The Cozy Recovery Box at $99 or $119 is the one I would send most often.

Can I send a get well box to a hospital?

You can enter any address you like, but I would send it to their home instead. Wards often will not hold parcels for a patient, some units restrict food, scented things and anything that has to be stored, and people are frequently discharged before a parcel catches up with them. A box waiting at home is also the better thing to come back to.

What do you send when it is not going to be a quick recovery?

Something that says nothing about getting better soon. A card wishing a speedy recovery to somebody with a chronic illness or a long diagnosis lands badly, however kindly it is meant. Send comfort and company instead, and write a card about being there rather than about being back on their feet. The thinking of you shelf is built for exactly that.

Can I send it straight to them?

Yes. Put their address in at checkout and type your message, and I write it onto the card by hand before the box is closed, so the note from you is the only thing in there with words on it.

How quickly will it get there?

Shipping is free anywhere in Canada and takes 1 to 7 days in transit. I can't promise an exact arrival date and there is no paid upgrade, so order as early as you can if the week matters. You can pick a preferred delivery date at checkout, which tells me when to send it rather than when it will land.

Can I send a box back?

All sales are final. Every box is food, skin care and other things that can't be sold on once they have left here, and each one is packed by hand to order. If you have a question before you buy, write to me at team@swipegifts.com.

Get well gift boxes, packed by hand in Canada

Flowers arrive on day two and are dead by the time the boredom starts. That is the real shape of being ill: a short dramatic bit that everybody responds to, followed by a fortnight of daytime television and a sofa, which is when a person actually wants something to happen. These four boxes are built for the second part, and they are separated by what is wrong rather than by price.

There are four, from $99 to $119. Every one of them comes in two sizes. The larger size of one is that same box with about two more things in it, picked the way the rest of it was picked. One is for a cold, one is for the fortnight after an operation, one is for a long stretch at home and one is for somebody who is bored out of their mind and perfectly capable of holding a pen.

Each one is packed by hand here in Canada and ships free anywhere in the country, straight to wherever they are recovering. There's no price on anything inside the box. You write the message at checkout and I copy it onto the card by hand, and the best line on a get well card is usually the one that tells them not to rush.

While you are here

If you are not sure which one to send, write to me at team@swipegifts.com and tell me who it is for. I read every email myself and I answer them.