**Lego ** you have just made me shudder for that poor child.
And made me turn off the idiot box down stairs.
That is just plain sad, sad, sad.
Okay, I have rethunk. If you are going to get him a giftcard, think about what he likes/wears. If he likes punk rock bands and wears alot of plaid , get him one to Hot Topic ( if they have those where you live), If he dresses like a surfer/skater , gor foe Abercrombie , American eagle , oe Pacific Sunwear. That is , if you want to spend some mucho bucks , a gift card worth while at one of those would have to be like 30 or 40 bucks ( that sounds like alot to someone as dirt poor as me , that is.)
My 13-year-old and her friends are deeply into Yu-Gi-Oh cards. Yu-Gi-Oh! is a poorly animated marketing exercise that appears on the WB network on Saturday mornings. It’s a cartoon about characters who (get this) play a card game. The kids around here collect, play, trade, and otherwise obsess over their cards, you can get specially boxed card sets at major toy/collectibles stores, and you can bet it drives moms and stepmoms nuts.
Of course, this is the sort of thing that he’d either think was incredibly cool or incredibly lame.
If video software is out here are my suggestions. I have a 13 year old boy. He loves skateboards and skateboard clothes or accessories, or how about one of those small MP3 players. Does he like to draw? There are lots of books on how to draw characters or action figures that they like.
Hmmmmm…some more good ideas. I’d do the video game thing, but his parents haven’t allowed him to have any of the freestanding systems (he can only play at friends’ houses), so I’d have to stick to PC software. I did get him Harry Potter game software last year, and it was a big hit. He’s not a skateboarder, and an MP3 player is rather outside my budget.
I’m not sure about Magic; maybe Dad will know if he’s into it. The funny thing is that I’ve been asking all my guy friends, who are in their 30’s; but let’s just say my friends are rather unconventional, and I would have had a much easier time guessing what they would like. (They’re a bunch of hyperintellectual math geeks, for the most part.) My brother is much more mainstream, but I don’t have much of a grip on the likes and dislikes of normal people in his age group.
Oh, and what’s wrong with Risk? My friends still play it, and I’m 34. Then again, one friend actually snuck out of his own wedding reception to play Magic with the guys in the hotel suite. Actually, come to think of it, maybe this isn’t a role model I want to be providing…
…although maybe the board game idea is a good one.
According to the lead singer for The Waitresses, who claims, “I Know What Boys Like,” boys like her.
1: Go to Sears and buy him a tool kit with the basics- hammer-pliers-screwdrivers etc. etc. -($ 20-30)
2: A set of two FRS radios ($ 20-30)
3: Dremel Moto-tool (basic unit around $ 40)
Lego. Find me a 13 year old boy who doesn’t still deeply love Lego. Inexpensive, not too heavy.
You wanted annoying? Get the CD Soundtrack to " 8 Mile" and a portable CD player with external speakers. He can blare Eminem WHILE playing with Lego.
