Birthday presents for the preteens/teens

[MommaCheesehead]

This is getting harder every year. His b-day is tomorrow but we're not celebrating it until Friday. He's away on a 4-day camping field trip with his whole 6th grade class.

DH and I both agreed that his gifts would be non-videogame related from now on.

The only thing I can come up with is a GC for the local mall so he can get some new sneakers. He has a shoe fetish to go along with his sock fetish

What types of gifts do you buy for your preteen/teen?

[Red]

hmm, for my son, bicycle parts, clothing, anything that had to do with the army. A swiss Army knife? Music? A CD player?

Maybe some camping gear, that's what I'm getting for one of mine this year. The other wants her room cleaned and done over, that means a new light fixture, maybe a rug or curtains, some paint, a new quilt.

[mamameg]

Is he interested in music? How about a musical instrument and some lessons? If money is an issue, try to be creative with finding a low-cost teacher (maybe a student?). We got my step-son (11 yrs old) a cool keyboard for xmas - it has an auto-teach mode where music plays and the specific keys light up. He can "chase" the keys and is self-teaching some songs.

Megan

[MommaCheesehead]

Lots of good ideas Thanks mamas!! I'll have to keep some of those in mind for Christmas too. I like the idea of doing the room over. It would be fun to even do it as a surprise for him sometime.