<p>Just looking for ideas. My D turns 18 this winter. She doesn’t want a party or anything like get a tattoo/piercing/etc which seems to be a common idea. She’s stumped on what she does want. Budget is limited.</p>
<p>The most memorable gift we gave our kids were awesome seats to a Queen concert. We gave each kid two tickets so they could invite a friend. They were actually “wowed” which is hard to do. They called from their seats when they got there to thank us profusely. </p>
<p>We sent S1 and 15 of his male friends off to play paintball, and then when they returned home I made them a spaghetti and meat balls dinner. They had a great time. I doubt your D will enjoy that, though.</p>
<p>And S2 had just started college when he turned 18, so I don’t remember doing anything spectacular for him. </p>
<p>We hosted a digital scavenger hunt for our S2 and his best friend from HS, who shared the same birthday. Each boy was the captain of a 6-person mixed team of boys & girls. The girls were enthusiastic from the very beginning & their enthusiasm rubbed off on the boys, who were acting “too cool” but then got caught up in the excitement & the competition. We sent them to our local museum (free) with instructions to photograph themselves at certain exhibits or to answer questions about those exhibits. They spent about 3 hours at the museum, then returned to our house for dinner (DIY taco bar). After dinner, we looked at the photos on our TV and tallied points for the two teams. Each person got a “goody bag” with a $5 Starbucks card, chips, candy, etc. The winning team got an additional $10 gift card to a local hamburger hangout near their school. Budget - including dinner, transportation and goody bags - was ~$200. (Items in gift bags were the single most expensive cost for the party). The kids had a blast!</p>
<p>I went to a hockey game with my friends and my then-bf and I went to Myrtle Beach a few weeks later during spring break.</p>
<p>I made my older D and her closest friends a nice dinner with all of her favorite foods, followed by a cake that I’d made (I dabble in cake decorating). It wasn’t a party as she was too cool for that but she and her friends had fun.</p>
<p>Our D chose 6 great friends and they went out to a nice dinner. Our S took his 3 best guy friends out to a good restaurant and it was a hit too. Nothing fancy just not places they typically hang out. </p>
<p>Aside from family & friends parties, one went horseback riding with her friends and the other I took to a camping music festival.
( dont ask what she did for her 19th birthday month)</p>
<p>My D jokes that she’ll celebrate her 18th birthday by buying cigarettes and Sudafed. 
</p>
<p>I don’t recall exactly, but I think we had them choose 2 or 3 friends to go out to dinner, and we paid for it. We had done a more elaborate surprise event for their 16th birthday, and since then we have kept their birthdays more low key.</p>
<p>just family dinners, as I recall. D was already in school at the time, so we drove down to take her out.</p>
<p>My S had the saddest 18th birthday ever. I dropped him off at freshman orientation the day before his birthday and got on a plane to move to a new country. S did go out to dinner w new friends, but as he put it “it really wasn’t a birthday.” Sorry, kid. </p>
<p>My son celebrated his by hiding it from the world. He didn’t want people at his high school coming up to him and asking him to buy cigarettes for them at the store across the street, so he preferred not to let people know he had turned 18.</p>
<p>We took family and friends for an “ice cream social” at Coldstone. Everyone loved it, gorged a bit, and said it was a blast. 8 years later, they’re still talking about it.</p>
<p>D had been at college, 800 miles from home, for three weeks when she turned 18. I had the campus catering service deliver a cake to her dorm, and we sent her a nice but not extravagant piece of jewelry. Her new friends took her out to eat, and her RA decorated her door and put a large sign in the lobby with her room number on it telling the other kids in the dorm to go knock and wish her a happy birthday. She seemed delighted! </p>
<p>Jumping out of a plane (in tandem with an instructor). With his parents there and holding our breath. He survived and so did we.</p>
<p>I honestly don’t remember! I’m going to guess that we took them out for a nice family dinner.</p>
<p>Our basement has always been the boys’ hangout area, with a pool and ping pong table, large screen tv, stereo, etc.,etc.,etc. so after their Bar Mitzvahs at age 13, we then had very low key, inexpensive parties in our basement for their school friends for 16th and 18th birthdays. They each invited whoever they wanted to, @20-25 kids. Not too loud and very respectful friends. I made small photo albums for each boy when they graduated high school which included pictures of their friends and parties in the basement.</p>
<p>We did nothing for both kids. They turned 18 when they’re freshman in college. I think one celebrate with her friends in college. The other one, we were in Hawaii enjoying the sunshine. We did send her a picture of us in Hawaii.</p>
<p>Our son’s birthday parties got smaller, the older he got. By 18, I think he chose 3 or 4 friends for an overnight. I provided good food and movies. They probably stayed up all night. I made a good breakfast, I’m sure. What great guys they were then! They still are.</p>