<p>… for Christmas and I’m feeling a little bad about that. (Not that there’s anything wrong with clothes and books, of course; we’re all fans of them, but just clothes and books just seems wrong for a kid! I’m looking for suggestions! Not too expensive; $50-$60 would be the max. S is 15, not into sports, doesn’t want a Wii game (yeah, I tried that already!)…</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I bought a couple of $9.99 DVD’s at Kmart the other day. They even had a big bin with $5.99 DVD’s. I bought Snakes on a Plane (stupid but it’ll be fun to watch) and Capote (kids found out that Capote used to have dinner at their grandparent’s house so I they might be curious to find out a little more about him). $15 iTune cards are also good–you can get them at Target. 15 year olds probably would never admit to it but many still enjoy putting llego kits together. Movie theater tickets with coupons for free popcorn, gift certificate to the local pizza parlor, or certificate for a night of bowling.</p>
<p>Gift cards to places like Starbucks, Jamba Juice, Cold Stone and the likes were a hit with my teens.</p>
<p>Same here, owlice. We are completely stumped with S2, who is 16. How about a new release movie (Dark Knight or Tropic Thunder) on DVD? Gifts cards aren’t very fun for the giver, but are usually appreciated. Does he like music or have an iPod? </p>
<p>Ideas for S1 (19) are more useful than exciting. He is asking for more RAM for his laptop (and I have no idea how to get it). We’re on a budget this year anyway. Will get him a 1-month membership to the local gym to use over break. He actually does like to read, and any suggestions in that area – esp. humorous or entertaining – would be welcome.</p>
<p>buy him some silly toys from Thinkgeek.com Plush microbes? Interactive electronic drum pad on a Tshirt? We found toys for our kids, and after reading about your son this year, I think there’s something there for him…</p>
<p>Board Games: Citadel, Apples to Apples, Settlers of Catan. Kids who read Hungarian in the bathroom (i think that’s your kid, sorry if I’m wrong) like these kinds of games.
Easy to find them online.</p>
<p>Thank you, all!!</p>
<p>nysmile and BunsenBurner, the kid is not much into movies, and still has an iTunes card sitting on his desk from LAST year. (!!!) He also has a Borders card that he got for his birthday (October) he hasn’t done anything with. He loves music and has an MP3 player. He’s not crazy about Cold Stone (he wouldn’t turn down a trip there, however!), but loves Maggie Moo’s; a trip there is a treat, indeed. </p>
<p>Legos are always good; doesn’t matter how old someone is (at least in this family!). </p>
<p>lspf72, I never have a hard time getting enough for the kid; it’s getting a good balance that I sometimes have trouble with. I’m trying this year to stay away from things I’d love to give him that he will think is fun for a few minutes and then set aside. (I haven’t been so good about that in years past.) I have a lot of books for him – got tons of suggestions from people here! – that I will probably hold some back because it’s an embarrassing number. He needs clothes and would get those regardless of the holiday. (He keeps growing; funny how that works!) I’ll wrap them anyway, just to make it look like Santa was <em>really</em> generous this year! :D</p>
<p>For amusing, the kid will often get a comic anthology – Foxtrot, Zits, Get Fuzzy, and Dilbert are current favorites. No amusing books this year for the kid, except for one of the “Evil Genius” books. The books he’s getting this year are on math and computer science and language/linguistics. I… I… ummm… went a little … ahhh… nuts at the SciAm Book Club site. </p>
<p>:: hangs head ::</p>
<p>And at Amazon…</p>
<p>~~ sigh ~~</p>
<p>dragonmom, ah, you know my kid – he’s a ThinkGeek boy, indeed! His whole tee-shirt wardrobe is from ThinkGeek – the pi, phi, and e shirts, “Keep Out of Direct Sunlight,” “I Never Finish Anyth…” yeah, that’s him! I got him the caffeinated soap and some stickers from there this year for his stocking. He’s got a couple of the interactive shirts already. Isn’t the interactive drum shirt cool?? It was shown on The Tonight Show tonight. That might be his next interactive shirt for taking to CTY!</p>
<p>IloveLA, you have the right kid – reads Hungarian textbook in bathroom: check! And Settlers of Catan looks like a winner; I just ordered it from Sci-Fi Genre, which was the first place I could find that had it in stock and could ship it within a day and have it here by Christmas. I’d not heard of the game before, but from what I read online, it looks really good!</p>
<p>~~~</p>
<p>Would it be mean to wrap a book in a box with a cinder block or brick or something else really heavy? Books are such obvious presents, and once one has opened one or two, it’s immediately apparent what the rest of the book-shaped presents are under the tree. (And this year, if it’s not book-shaped, it’s boxed-clothing-shaped. Poor kid! 
)</p>
<p>Swiss army knife? (Of course, he’ll get expelled if he ever takes it to school by mistake, but still, guys like them.)</p>
<p>Earbuds for mp3. I prefer Bose. Just got a replacement on eBay for 59. The sound is a lot better than iPod standard.</p>
<p>I am getting a bit anxious about my 15 year old. He does not need ANY clothes at all, as he gets hand med downs by the bagful, isn’t interested in clothes, and his closets and dressers are packed. He has a job and earns his own money for everything; has the healthiest bank account of all of my kids. Buys everything he wants and needs himself. So doesn’t need money. Has gotten everything he wanted this fall and winter already.</p>
<p>I have some books and a football since his got lost. That is it. LLBean has some interesting things in their gift catalogue that run $30-$50. I may get him something from there. It is not easy with him either. I want to get one thing for him that is about $100, as I did for each of the boys. They were easy. I am still at a standstill for him.</p>
<p>Don’t feel bad Owlice, My 18 yr. old S2 is getting a winter hat, socks, a couple of fast food gift cards and much needed tires for his truck (gets them today and he is really excited…go figure). I too feel bad that there won’t be any “surprises” under the tree.<br>
And his birthday is 12/30…still stumped on that one. </p>
<p>S1 (21) is getting speakers for his truck which he will go out and buy (so no box under the tree) and a gift card to the Vitamin Shoppe (his request). He would like some books but I can’t pick them out. He’ll have to chose them. No surprises there either. </p>
<p>It’s not as fun/easy as when they were little kids is it?</p>
<p>Last year on S2’s birthday we gave him a homemade IOU card worth XXX dollars for him to cash in later in the year if there was something he wanted/needed that was more than the usual budget would allow.</p>
<p>With two D’s age 16 and older, we’ve had mostly clothes under the tree for a few years now. But we always get jigsaw puzzles. It’s makes for a nice few days of “together” time…after the wrapping mess is cleaned up and breakfast is served, out comes the card table and we get to work on a puzzle. It usually takes a couple days of group effort to get a 1000-piece puzzle finished.</p>
<p>I think going to the dollar shop or Christmastree shop and getting some fun things is all we can do, just so there is parity under the tree. I did like the LLBean sleds and icecream maker. What I am giving my older boys are messenger bags filled with supplies that they like and need. Also a toiletries box, and if they have an apartment, a goodie box can be something neat. Otherwise giftcards or money. I do like to have a few fun things for them. </p>
<p>I stopped the 15 year old from buying a Lindt chocolate snowman at the store the other day, explaining that I consider that special for Christmas, something that they get in their stockings and if they buy it on a whim, it is not so special. I’m not sure he got it, but he indulged the old mom. </p>
<p>It’s not just the age. I can think of many things the older ones want, need, and the cousins would have long lists. I have a kid who is smaller than his brothers and friends so he gets all of their clothes. We have books galore, and he isn’t that interested in any particular types of reading, the only one of 5 that way. He buys whatever he wants or needs as he has a job that is quite lucrative. I wish he had held off on his purchases this year. He bought himself a messenger bag and filled it! Bought himself school gear like hoodies. Bought the games and dvds that he wanted. So I am at a loss for him.</p>
<p>Last year I got a gift idea from someone on this board that was a huge hit at home: the National Geographic Society genome project. For $100, you send in a cheek swab and choose to have either X or Y line searched. I forget the details and am in a rush, but you can find out about it on the NGS website. It’s really pretty cool and definitely appeals to some kids. (And adults.)</p>
<p>I got my mathgeek son the game blokus - after a friend recommended it. [Blokus</a> : Official website](<a href=“Mattel Games For All Ages | Mattel”>http://www.blokus.com/) Fluxx is another good one. [url=<a href=“http://www.wunderland.com/LooneyLabs/Fluxx/Fluxx.html]Fluxx”>Fluxx Product Description]Fluxx</a> Product Description<a href=“and%20it%20costs%20way%20less%20than%20$60.”>/url</a></p>
<p>How about a computer program that makes it easy and fun to make your own comics? I know that on the Apple site they have one that customers seem to love. It’s called Comic Life Deluxe. Maybe Windows has something similar. </p>
<p>[Comic</a> Life Deluxe Edition - Apple Store (U.S.)](<a href=“http://store.apple.com/us/product/TF397LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA2NQ&mco=MjE1NjM5OQ]Comic”>http://store.apple.com/us/product/TF397LL/A?fnode=MTY1NDA2NQ&mco=MjE1NjM5OQ)</p>
<p>Settlers of Catan–
Had never heard of it before either.
Is it a heavy-duty strategy game? Also-- wondering just how complex it is – OK for a 10-year-old or slow-to-learn parent?</p>
<p>I second ThinkGeek. Gifts from there were a big hit with my son last year. How about a quirky t-shirt or other merchandise from Cafe Press? Or shop Trader Joe’s for gourmet treats fit for a teenager–cocoa, chocolate-covered mini-graham crackers, nuts, etc. National Geographic subscriptions are also a hit in our extended family. Does he like audiobooks? You could get him a gift card for audible.com. </p>
<p>Clothes and books work for my son, as does anything slightly offbeat. My H is going out to look for “Goodnight Bush” (a spoof on “Goodnight Moon”) today. He’s also getting a camera accessory, as he does on every gift-giving occasion (he’s an aspiring photojournalist, and it helps to spread the parental investment through the year). I follow my mother’s tradition of fun Christmas stockings that combine useful and useless. (Oops. I haven’t gotten the chocolate apples yet.) We don’t do extravagant Christmases in general because we all have enough stuff. Just sitting around on Christmas morning in our PJs is the best part.</p>
<p>Settlers of Catan is more of a light-duty strategy game. It’s kind of like Monopoly in a world without money. My kids began playing it in middle school, but a thoughtful, patient 10 year old 
might like it.</p>
<p>mathmom, sooo funny; I was just looking at Fluxx last night!!</p>
<p>nysmile, Comic Life is something right down this kid’s alley!</p>