My little brother (actually not so little; he’s growing like a weed and is already about 6’1"!) is having his confirmation in a couple of weeks, and his birthday shortly thereafter. I have no clue what to give him, and as with many teenagers, he isn’t exactly forthcoming upon questioning. I also have no clue what typical confirmaiton gifts are - yes, Jewish people do confirmation, just not very many of them, so I think the last time I went to someone’s confirmation, I was 16 myself. Plus he lives 800 miles away, so I don’t know what he already has and don’t see him very often.
His interests: typical 16-year-old stuff, but much more mainstream than my interests were at 16. He likes rap, baseball, and at the moment desperately wants to be a DJ when he grows up. My backup plan is a Borders gift certificate, but I hate giving gift certificates, especially to close family members - it’s so impersonal! I did get him a nice carved stone chess set for his Bar Mitzvah, which he uses to kick Dad’s butt at chess, and he liked that.
Any ideas? (And no, I’m not getting him porn or anything involving naked women, though I am well aware that is the main obsession of many 16-year-old boys. He *is * my brother, after all.)
He’s already got an iPod Mini, which would have been outside my price range anyway, and the regular iPod would definitely be outside my price range.
The other idea I had was to get him an iTunes gift certificate, but I figured Borders was more versatile, and at least there was the possibility of him buying books.
Does he have an Ipod or other Mp.3 player? If not, he probably wants one.
A pair of high-quality headphones if he is in a crowded house where he can’t listen to his music as loudly as he’d like to.
A really nice backpack to start school with next year–boy’s backpacks are amazingly complex these days, with space-age technology. But they always fall apart by May.
Clothes. I teach high school, and probably half my boys are really serious about their clothes. The other half doesn’t care as long as it is clean. If he is in the half that cares, a really nice sharp dress shirt and tie–NOT a nice shirt your mom would like, but something really GQ–or a pair of sharp shoes might be just the thing.
Sixteen-year olds spend a lot of there money on events, not things. For instance, if he has a girlfriend, a girft cretificate to a really posh resturant so that he can take her out in serious style would probably be appriciated. If he and his friends hang out at Starbucks (my students do), a Starbucks giftcard is a handy thing to have.
The thing is, for most of these things, he’s going to know exactly what he would like and you will have no clue. So a gift certificate may be the way to go. That doesn’t mean you can’t make it personal–just include a note explaining why, exactly, you got him the gift certificate you did–" I know looking sharp is important to a young man, and I know old ladies like me have no idea what sharp looks like anymore, so you go pick out something to impress the dames . . ." or "I was going to buy you a CD, but I couldn’t decide if you would like the Crystal Gayle or the Polka Forever collection better, so I thought I better let you choose. "
Price range: it may depend to a certain extent on what I am able to find and whether I think it’s worth the money. I think I spent about $80 or so on the chess set, but that was more than I would normally spend, because it was really nice and I think chess has redeeming value in itself, plus it’s something he will have forever. (I do have a bit more spare cash now than I did 3 years ago, though.)
If he has a girlfriend, Dad doesn’t know about it, though it wouldn’t surprise me.
My dad and stepmom have a car, but they live in NY, so I don’t know when my brother will learn to drive, much less get a driver’s license and be allowed to take the car out by himself. (The car stereo adapter for the iPod would be cool, if that were the case; I’ve got one myself, and it’s great for long trips.)
Clothes: again, I think we’d be in gift certificate territory, because I have no clue what he wants to wear. He seems to be transitioning from baggy hip-hop stuff to a preppier look, which Dad tells me in the “in” thing where they live these days. I was a jeans-and-tie-dye girl myself, so I’d probably just embarrass him - he’s very particular about what he wears. (Gets it from Dad, I think, if not the clothing taste itself.)
Sheesh, and I thought Father’s Day was going to be difficult - at least I can pick out CDs for Dad, and he always likes them.
A Leatherman universal tool. You’ll thank me later. They’re very much a guy’s item, they’re cool just to play with and show off, they actually work and they last forever. We just gave one as a confirmation gift to a nephew, and the kid slept with it on his pillow…
When I buy Christmas gifts for my teenaged nieces and nephews, I just get them gift certificates for a local record store. I figured I’m unlikely to pick out a CD they’d like.
One possible alternative is a subscription to a magazine like Mojo or Uncut - they’re music magazines and each issue comes with a promotional CD of new music. The down side is both magazines are imported from the UK and subsriptions are very expensive.
19 year old here, but I know what I liked when I was sixteen.
Does he have any videogame systems? I have a huge database in my head of overlooked gems, classics, games good for mature audiences, games good for youngsters, overrated drek, underrated goodness, and everything else for all systems. Tell me what systems he owns, and what games, and I can make some real good, cheap reccomendations for you.
DVD purchases are good presents too. Does he own Team America World Police? If he likes South Park, I can almost guarantee that he will love it. I’m sure he’s at least heard of it by now.
If he reads, have a good look at his book shelf and tell me which authors he digs and report back. If he doesn’t read and you want him to, I can make some suggestions that might change his mind about literature. The Sin City comics are real fun for starters, and have wonderfull artwork.
Digital cameras are great fun if you want to spend that much money and if he doesn’t own one.
If it sounds like he wouldn’t enjoy any of the above, tell us more about him. Details can go a looong way, esspecialy when it comes to someone’s taste.
CMJ is a US magazine that does the same thing. When I was a music-obsessed teenager, I thought this was the best magazine ever. Each issue comes with tons of reviews, interviews and a CD containing about 20 songs. They cover all genres, including some really obscure stuff, and I loved the knowing about songs for months before they hit it big, a la Wheatus’ “Teenage Dirtbag.” I’ve got an almost complete run from 1996-2000, and I still buy it on occasion.
If you have the money get him some turntables, I know if I got that I’d be smilin’.
More realistically thinking of my own personal tastes; Shiny Jewelry, Clothes, A video game and maybe an account to download music off the internet, ya’ know like Napster.
As far as clothes I’d go with T-Shirts it’s a pretty safe gift and as far as the Jewelry you don’t have to spend that much, my favorite necklace costed about 30 dollars.
Well if he wants to be a DJ (rap dj or techno?) then maybe getting him some classic records from his favorite genre would be appreciated. I’m sure at 16 his library can’t be complete. Find out what he’s got and what he likes and I and plenty of other people could give suggestions.
