BY MARY LIMA
The mind of the teenager is a mysterious place. It’s often hard to have a conversation with that particular brain, let alone try to divine what that mind would deem an appropriate, acceptable, and (for those of us who shoot for the moon) exciting gift. It’s hard enough to do as a parent, even harder if you’re a grandparent, aunt, uncle, or other relative who is not in continual, or at least regular, contact with said teenager.
So after an entirely biased survey of friends, relatives, and acquaintances (carried out via Facebook, e-mail, and WordPress), here is a list of presents, by category, requested by real-life teens, ranging in age between 13 and 18 years old, living in states as far away as Georgia and Colorado.
Techno Gizmos
A vast category. Many of the requests were for Apple products—iPads, iPhone upgrades, an Apple Watch—and Android phone upgrades. GoPros, cameras you can mount onto your body or, say, a longboard, and Monorovers. What’s a Monorover? It’s a Segway without the handles and post. Kind of like an electric unicycle without a seat. It’s kind of awesome, and my favorite request of the bunch.
Musical equipment was a big techno request. Earbuds and headphones (the Beats brand is popular) topped the list for all ages, but guitars, sound/mixing equipment, CDs, and a record player and records also came up. Yep, vinyl is back in a big way.
Xbox/Nintendo/PS-4 videogames (all three were mentioned in the survey), games for said players, laptops, iPad, Apple Watch, and a new sound system for a car (really?). With the exception of the sound system, for which the recipient would mostly likely need to be older than 16, these choices run the gamut from oldest to youngest.
Where can you buy these technical wonders? Many can be found in Walmart, Best Buy, or a store that carries high-tech products. For some of the more specific requests (Monorover!), or if venturing to the mall or nearest box store makes your stomach hurt, ordering from your local retailer online may be your best bet.
Clothes And Accessories
Boys, girls, junior high and high school, everyone wants clothes. Heck, adults want clothes for Christmas, too. But teenagers have a specific and mercurial taste that is hard to pin down, even by them. The same shirt they bought two months ago in gray may be, for inscrutable reasons, be wholly atrocious in blue. Even something as seemingly straightforward as jeans is fraught with landmines. Low-rise? High-rise? Boot cut? Skinny? Therefore, general items of clothing are difficult to select and might be safer to avoid. However, specific name brands—some names mentioned in the survey were Ugg boots, Hunter boots, and Oakley sunglasses—are a good bet. Bottom line, if you’re going to buy clothes, get your teen to be as specific as possible with the brand, type, size, color, inclusion (or adamant dismissal) of shiny bits, or whatever else they only like before you buy.
Money
The oldie but goodie. This one was more age-specific; only one respondent younger than 15 asked for money, but almost everyone 15 and older requested it. Some were saving for specific items (school trip to Europe, clothing), but most just wanted the cash. However, money is so, well, impersonal. And unspecific. That’s why, as the responsible party for your teen’s presents, you might prefer…gift cards.
Gift cards answer the problems of buying clothing, books, and music for your teen without offending their specific preferences and tastes, and without being as impersonal as a wad of cash. If you know your 13-year-old boy loves Minecraft, get him an online gift card. If your 15-year-girl loves LuLu Lemon, get her a card. Books? Buy a Barnes & Noble card or keep it local at Eight Cousins Books in Falmouth, Market Street Bookshop in Mashpee, or Titcomb’s Bookshop in Sandwich. One category that was mentioned that I hadn’t thought of was activity gift cards—cards to a trampoline park or climbing gym. Other card ideas that were requested were iTunes (a favorite), Google Play, multiple clothing stores, restaurants and, if you if you want to give your teen maximum flexibility, the Amazon gift card.
Most of these gift cards are available in local supermarkets or directly from your favorite local store. The Falmouth Stop & Shop has a huge, three-sided display of these lovely potential presents, so you can pick them up while buying your Thanksgiving goodies and be done with shopping a month early.
‘Merch’
As in merchandise from or with images of their favorite shows, movies, websites, or podcasts. Certain shows, such as “Dr. Who” or “Supernatural,” breed rabid fans who display their geeky obsessions proudly. If your child is into “Dr. Who,” “Star Wars,” or “Supernatural,” it’s pretty easy to find merch for them. Stores like Hot Topic at the Cape Cod Mall, or several of those insidious Christmas catalogs that overfill your mailbox every November and December, carry T-shirts and all kinds of good merch, from socks to fridge magnets. The “Welcome to Night Vale” podcasts carry merch on their website. A subsection of this is sport team paraphernalia. Maybe this isn’t exactly merch, but it’s pretty close in that an official cap or jersey proudly displays undying loyalty to a group. Another potential gift that falls in this category is concert tickets, but make sure your teen likes the band and (in the case of the non-driving crowd), you’re willing to help get them to the venue.
The easiest way to find merch is the same way we find all things nowadays—just Google it. That’s how I found out that, yes, indeed, you can buy a life-size TARDIS, but not a fully functional screwdriver. That last one, sorry to tell the 14-year-old hopeful who requested it, is for doctors only.
Other
There had to be an Other category, right? Not everything can be placed into neat boxes. Sports equipment tops this group of presents. One responder requested “sports stuff,” which is vague and not that helpful, but specific requests included baseball cleats, a ballet barre and gear, a body board, a gym mat, and a skateboard. After that, most specific requests that fell into this category came from kids 15 and younger. These included beanbag chairs, a day of paintball, sleep away camp, YuGiOh cards (if you have to ask, you shouldn’t get these!), a shaving kit (my favorite Other item), collectibles such as dolls, cooking lessons, and a class on how to make mods in Minecraft.
For all of these categories, there is one important basis for the selection of a teen’s present. Get them something specific to their hobbies and interests. Don’t buy them an iTunes card if they have a Samsung phone. Don’t get them concert tickets to a band they hate (or that you aren’t willing to take them to) or a gift card to Rue 21 if they want American Eagle. But if you do a little digging, you can zero in on something that your teen will like.
If not? Just get them cash.