<p>I am burning Cds for my D and her friends, with all kinds of songs about freedom, from Freebird to the Stones song- Free to do what I want (not sure about title)</p>
<p>I am also ordering her labels for post cards, etc so when she has her adventrues in her new city we can live vicariously</p>
<p>She is giving her friends matching picture frames with the exact same picture of all of them so no matter where they are, they have something alike and to remember</p>
<p>Any other ideas?</p>
<p>CGmom-- are you talking about graduation gifts?
I’ll follow this for ideas too, since I’m trying to think of something/things to get S. for his upcoming 18th birthday. At this point his favorite activities are running, computer, and EATING, not necessarily in that order…
For one thing, I know we’ll probably give him an inexpensive digital camera for college. Also, some kind of bulletin or memo board, if they’re not already supplied by the school. Niece loved the the many-sided photo cube thingy we gave her because she could fit lots of pictures of all the pets she was leaving behind at home!
When I was at Radio Shack recently I noticed some cute, eyeball-like orbs sitting on top of computer monitors, that turned out to be mini webcams. Without thinking, I stupidly mentioned that a pair might be a good idea for college, so we (parents & siblings) could all “visit” with him at school. You can imagine how big THAT idea went over.</p>
<p>Or they can make videos for YouTube!</p>
<p>I was thinking if 18th Bdays and graduation stuff</p>
<p>I was thinking of this microphone you attached to your Ipod to record thiings- like lectures, meetings, and she can even tell us a story and pod cast it or whtaever to us!!!</p>
<p>Most bought book for h.s. grads: Dr. Seuss, “Oh the Places You’ll Go”</p>
<p>I recall when our D knew her roommate, my H contacted their parents and together we bought them a subscription to a beautiful classical concert series on their campus. That way, they had the guarantee of each others’ company to sit together. They really loved it. By the following year, they bought their own tickets and arranged their own friends, of course.</p>
<p>I am thinking of something D will have forever, like pearl earrings or something…her first “real” piece of jewelry.</p>
<p>We were not very creative. The upgraded ipod has had a lot of daily use. She has hardly used her digital camera. If we see any pictures, they are from the cell phone.</p>
<p>I love books so for the friends of my S who graduated with him, I got a top shelf art book … one that featured an artist that was consistent with the teen’s personality… thinking that would be something they would have forever. </p>
<p>Another great gift that you know will be used is a very good desk chair. </p>
<p>Excellent speakers they can hook up to their laptops for music…cause everything lives inside their iPod or their laptop. </p>
<p>They can’t have too many lamps for all the reading they will do. So, a great desk lamp or floor lamp that has an arm that can be adjusted for reading in bed is key. </p>
<p>A good 21st birthday gift for a boy is a navy blue blazer…or a suit. </p>
<p>Our hs graduation gift to our son was a specific watch he wanted.</p>
<p>A quilt made from significant pieces of clothing.</p>
<p>I made my oldest a scrapbook of his life from birth through graduation. (Actually ended up being two scrapbooks.) We displayed them at his graduation party. My plan was to do it for all of my kids. I am up to age 8 for second S – he graduated 3 years ago. Oops. (Though I did a poster board - Science Fair style - to display at his senior recital, which he had rather than a party.) D is a senior this year, so she may have to wait awhile.</p>
<p>My gift to my son was paying for college</p>
<p>binx-- over the years I’ve tried to keep scrapbooks going for the kids. I used to try to update them once or twice a year, but I seem to get further and further behind :(<br>
When older daughter “graduated” from middle school last year, they gave each of the 6th graders a CD of memorable photos they had collected from teachers and parents, set to music (“Time of Your Life” and “Unwritten,” of course). The kids really enjoyed them.</p>
<p>For DD 2 years ago I saved all my pennies (big coin piggy bank) and sat my behind at our Super Walmart on Thanksgiving (after making dinner for 28+) all night to buy her the laptop they had on special for the big day after Thanksgiving sale. I had been in there early in the week and found out they had just a few so if I wanted one, I needed to be there early and sit, and sit and SIT.</p>
<p>She loves her laptop and has “secretly” replaced my coins in the piggy bank when she was home on break from her earnings from work study. She says more than the money she couldn’t believe how long I sat there so she wold have a computer for college.</p>
<p>Great, now I can go blubber how much I miss my baby girl! Thanks…thanks.</p>
<p>Kat</p>
<p>kat, great story. Now I’ll go blubber with you. I’m so proud I “know” you. You and your kittens are truly an inspiration to me.</p>
<p>to altmom - the ‘significant pieces of clothing’ I referred to in the post about making a quilt came from my husband’s work shirts. H wore those shirts to the job that pays the tuition, and gladly gave our s. the shirt off his back so it was an oblique way of reminding s. of that fact. Like any good piece of handwork, it pulls double duty as a metaphor.</p>
<p>We published a paperback book with letters from family & friends offering “Words of Wisdom” even the small cousins drew pictures that were included. In the end it came out to be 68 fabulous pages, and cost $9 per book to publish. I ordered 5 copies and the total with shipping was under $50. I submitted the “manuscript” on a Saturday and the 5 copies were at our door Tuesday (3 days later). They’re fabulous and D loved them.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.cafepress.com/buy/61437868/-/pv_design_prod/p_storeid.61437868/pNo_61437868/id_0/opt_/pg_/c_/fpt_[/url]”>http://www.cafepress.com/buy/61437868/-/pv_design_prod/p_storeid.61437868/pNo_61437868/id_0/opt_/pg_/c_/fpt_</a></p>
<p>For part of D’s college graduation gift, we got her a charm bracelet with significant charms from her college experience - the diploma engraved with the date of graduation, the scales of justice since her major was criminal justice, and a cross since it was a Jesuit school. We will be adding a Key West charm this year since that is the other part of her gift - a trip to Key West which also doubles as HS grad. gift for S. He will also be getting a scrapbook of his bball career - all the newspaper articles from all his games. He never wanted to read them while he was playing, so now he will have them all together.</p>
<p>I love the charm braceleet, the book and the ticket ideas</p>
<p>My D will be in nyc, so I could do a show she can take a friend to in the fall!!</p>
<p>I ordered two photo books through IPhoto on my Apple computer and they came out beautifully! These were for Christmas, but I plan on making two more for my grads this spring, with photos from their school experiences. These type of books are also available from other photo sites I believe.</p>
<p>Thanks very much to paying3tuitions for this suggestion, and to the rest of you for the other clever ideas too. If anyone is interested, Amazon.com also has “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” journals and stationery.</p>
<p>I think I’m going to give my kid a bunch of gift certificates to restaurants near whatever college he picks. </p>
<p>That is really all son #1 ever wants: food that is not from the college cafeteria.</p>