<p>If it was a girl, we’d send flowers or balloons to cheer up the room.
What do you send a teenage boy? Are there any online sites for balloon/floral deliveries that would be more goofy than elegant? I’m thinking goofy is the way to go.</p>
<p>Goofy is good—but I recommend something small. When my son was in the hospital, there was almost no space in his room to keep balloons and plants. (To brighten up the room, we hung a string of colored lights around the window, and made a collage of cards on the wall.) He liked receiving magazines (his favorite in those days was Game Informer); he was too sick to read “real” books. If the patient is not on a special diet, and the hospital allows it (ours did), a few tasty treats in a basket would be nice. Those three meagre hospital meals aren’t very satisfactory for a teenage boy.</p>
<p>Bring him a Mad magazine and some comic books.</p>
<p>How about an Itunes gift card (if he has access to a laptop) so he can buy some new music?</p>
<p>Does anybody use GameBoy anymore?</p>
<p>Food, lounging pants, a medium-sized Lego set or jigsaw puzzle that fits on a hospital tray, a little LED readout thing to fiddle with or other small electronic, a small craft project that involves assembly but not mess (painting), entertaining books (Daily Show, The Office, etc.), DVD’s</p>
<p>May be your presence will brighten the room.</p>
<p>A really soft cotton t-shirt and DVD’s to watch with visitors so you don’t have to talk all the time.</p>
<p>Favorite snacks, candy, fast food–if allowed.</p>
<p>Since you mention online, can I assume he’s not in your town? If that’s the case, [ThinkGeek.com</a> :: Temporarily Down for Maintenance](<a href=“http://www.thinkgeek.com/]ThinkGeek.com”>http://www.thinkgeek.com/) comes to mind.</p>
<p>edited to add: hopefully, they’ll be back up and running soon</p>
<p>Thanks for the suggestions. Lots of good ideas.</p>
<p>Can’t visit yet, as we are too far away.</p>
<p>Surveyed some of the teens hanging out at our house, and they suggested games for a DS Nintendo. None of them owned one, so couldn’t suggest which game. Any suggestions there for a game to combat boredom?</p>
<p>Do they know that he owns a Nintendo DS?</p>
<p>A season long tv show series on DVD. A light series that he didn’t watch when it was new.</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend a season of a TV show, even better if he has never seen it before. Good ones are Arrested Development (funniest show I have watched in my life), The Office, Scrubs, Always Sunny In Philadelphia (Though depending on his age Phili may be inappropriate), etc</p>
<p>^ Good idea. Also Monk, Dead Zone, Seinfeld, Third Rock from the Sun… those have all gone over well with my son in his teen years. With the loan of a small portable DVD player if possible, so that he can use it in the bed and therefore change the discs himself.</p>
<p>A soft teddy bear to hug.</p>