Gift ideas for son's 18th birthday...

[Jake72]

His birthday is on the 27th, so it's pretty hard to get him to think of enough things he wants for both Christmas and his birthday. I finally got out of him the name of two things he wanted, black ops and halo reach. I got him both for Christmas along with a $100 gift card to Aeropostale since he said he needed more clothes. I feel that is enough for Christmas, since I have a big family who is all buying for him too so he'll get plenty.

For his birthday I had a nice digital camera on hand that I picked up from amazon's "gold box" not long ago. I didn't originally intend to give it to him, I had it more on hand for just in case one of the kids didn't give me any ideas. I decided I will give it to him. I just need another idea.

He loves video games, but he has pretty much all the games he wants or needs... and then some. He has an iPod, cell phone, car, computer, Xbox, everything a teen pretty much wants. So I am at a complete loss. He won't give me any more idea, he just keeps saying "I dunno" and that's the end of the conversation for all he's concerned. He isn't that into sports, but the college he plans on going to next year is a huge football school. It's team is in the SEC, so he won't be able to escape the love for college football, I was thinking maybe a nice jersey for the team, or a few shirts, but I really don't know.

What did y'all get your kids for their 18th birthday? (or any other teenage birthday for that matter)

 

[mom2many]

What about a nice watch, one that he can have for many years?

I suck when it comes to these things, especially as they get older.

Hopefully FO7 will come along he is very creative!

 

[ElliottCarasDad]

How about a suitcase? lol

Thats what my dad and step-mom got me!

 

[Jake72]

How about a suitcase? lol

Thats what my dad and step-mom got me!

LOL! That's hilarious.

I'm not kicking him out when he graduates, he is more than welcome to stay here. In fact, I would prefer if he would do his first year of college from home.

@M2M He doesn't like watches. He would rather just look at his phone for the time.

 

[Father_0f_7]

football school. It's team is in the SEC

Is it Auburn? I love Auburn.
Oh no...it's not Alabama is it?

I think the football jersey would be good. Does he like music? Does he know how to play an instrument? Would he like to play an instrument.

 

[Jake72]

Is it Auburn? I love Auburn.
Oh no...it's not Alabama is it?

I think the football jersey would be good. Does he like music? Does he know how to play an instrument? Would he like to play an instrument.

I can tell by your signature. It actually is Auburn. Auburn is not too far from here, both my kids love the campus. He's been accepted so as long as nothing comes up, he'll be going. Alabama wasn't even considered. He considered Georgia, South Carolina, and a small college over in Columbus, GA.

He likes music but when a CD comes out he wants, he just buys it. He tried to learn to play an instrument when the opportunity was there in school, but he was never able to catch on to reading music, so he quit out of frustration and has never expressed interest in trying again.

 

[Father_0f_7]

You don't have to read music to be able to play an instrument. In the long run it gets a lot harder if you don't. But all of my kids have been playing piano since they were about 4. Megan started playing for 19 years and she doesn't know how to read music.

There are video's on youtube of certain songs. You could buy him a month or two of lessons for whatever instrument. you could give him a gift card for itunes.

Ya, I went to Auburn for about a year until I transferred to Naval Academy. It was really awesome there.

 

[Jake72]

You don't have to read music to be able to play an instrument. In the long run it gets a lot harder if you don't. But all of my kids have been playing piano since they were about 4. Megan started playing for 19 years and she doesn't know how to read music.

There are video's on youtube of certain songs. You could buy him a month or two of lessons for whatever instrument. you could give him a gift card for itunes.

Ya, I went to Auburn for about a year until I transferred to Naval Academy. It was really awesome there.

It would take a lot to convince him to give it another try.

Itunes gift card sounds like a good idea. I might get him a small itunes gift card, and a bigger one to amazon so he can get anything he wants.

I asked a few of my brothers he is pretty close with and none of them had any idea, he pretty much has everything so I guess gift card is pretty much my only option at this point.

 

[Father_0f_7]

You could also get him Bose headphones or Bose speakers. They're expensive but they will last him a long time. I've had mine for about 7 years.

 

[Xero]

Hmm.. Sounds like he's really into his Xbox. I can give a couple suggestions off of that, since my husband is obsessed with his LOL. I know what he loves and the stuff he would like to have.

How long has he had the Xbox? If it has been a while, then he probably needs new controllers. They get really loose and kinda gunked up after a while, and they lose sensitivity to an extent. They still work fine, but my husband says that a fresh new controller really improves his game and makes playing a lot more enjoyable.

Another thing is that he has a Turtle Beach head set, they're pretty expensive but they are AMAZING. They are for the Xbox, and they have a really nice microphone and you can hear EVERY last detail of the game you're playing or any movie you want to watch in the headphones, they're super nice. You can also hear the chat and your own voice. Its the clearest thing ever, you'd be amazed if you tried them out. The nice thing about them too is that you can hear your game as loud as you want even if other people are trying to sleep. I steal them from him at night to watch movies all the time lol. They play the sound better than my TV does.

 

[Jake72]

Hmm.. Sounds like he's really into his Xbox. I can give a couple suggestions off of that, since my husband is obsessed with his LOL. I know what he loves and the stuff he would like to have.

How long has he had the Xbox? If it has been a while, then he probably needs new controllers. They get really loose and kinda gunked up after a while, and they lose sensitivity to an extent. They still work fine, but my husband says that a fresh new controller really improves his game and makes playing a lot more enjoyable.

Another thing is that he has a Turtle Beach head set, they're pretty expensive but they are AMAZING. They are for the Xbox, and they have a really nice microphone and you can hear EVERY last detail of the game you're playing or any movie you want to watch in the headphones, they're super nice. You can also hear the chat and your own voice. Its the clearest thing ever, you'd be amazed if you tried them out. The nice thing about them too is that you can hear your game as loud as you want even if other people are trying to sleep. I steal them from him at night to watch movies all the time lol. They play the sound better than my TV does.

Yes, he's obsessed.

I've heard of those. I'll look into them, I was just looking at their website and they look really nice. Do they block out sound when you're wearing them, or can you still hear when people are trying to talk to you?

He just got a new controller a month or two ago with his own money. He broke his last one. I think he threw it one too many times. The boy's got my temper....

 

[Xero]

lol DH doesn't throw his controllers, but he does roar and go kinda bonkers sometimes when he's playing and thinks aren't going his way hahaha.

As for what you can hear, honestly they aren't specifically designed to block out sound but it all depends on how loud you have the volume. My husband uses these around me all the time, and if he keeps the game at a low/moderate level he can still kinda hear me when I talk to him. If you turn it up, and this I know from him telling me and from my own experience when using them myself, then you can't hear anything but the game/movie. They have a really powerful sound when you turn them up and that sound will block out everything else. So it depends on how he uses them. Sometime DH turns them up but leaves one ear half uncovered lol (cause I get mad at him when he's not available for me to talk to haha).

 

[Jake72]

Okay, cool. I'll just lay out ground rules about making sure he can hear his surroundings well enough.

Thank you! That is definitely what I'll get him.

 

[Xero]

Awesome! I'm glad I could help!

 

[Aussie Barb]

My husband & I decided that our kids seem to have sooo much stuff that maybe we'd start giving our children birthday 'experiences' which we began about 8 years ago and they have really treasured them. This year our 27 year old will be seeing Heston Blumenthal, famous chef and our 15 year old has tickets to her favourite singer. In the past they have been to ballets (may or may not suit a boy, I know), live performances etc. I'm sure there is something he'd like to do/see/experience with one of his mates.