ALT-4 Christmas Gifts that Won’t Embarrass your Teen Girl
The title of this article should really be Christmas gifts NOT to buy for your teen girl! There are plenty of good gifts out there that you can get that will land you solidly on safe ground, and we'll get to those shortly. But what you really need to consider when pondering this topic is what gifts will in fact embarrass her or can potentially embarrass her. One special note to take into consideration is who she will be with when she opens her gifts. If it's just the immediate family, she's highly less likely to be as embarrassed by a gift than if she is with her giant extended family, or a male cousin close to her age, or even a female cousin who she fears might consider her gift "dorky".
That being said, let's get to the obvious: unless you know she's comfortable receiving and opening them, don't give her any kind of underclothing. Pajamas are usually okay, but make sure they are tastefully cute and acceptable to your teen girl (meaning, nothing with Goofy or Tweety Bird on the rear end). Again, she may be someone who throws all cares to the wind and is perfectly fine with opening pink-striped underwear in front of everyone... but if she is, this article probably doesn't pertain to you anyway!
Even when we are being helpful, we can sometimes hurt our teenage girls' egos. Remember they are still growing and forming opinions about the world around them and about themselves! You might want to be careful when giving her any kind of a gift meant to help boost her skill in a particular area. For example, if she struggles with her Spanish classes, don't go out and buy her the book Spanish for Dummies and wrap it up and put it under the Christmas tree.
As funny as they may seem to dear old Dad, stay away from gag gifts that you think she might laugh at. Examples of this include fake dog poop, plastic vomit, stink bombs, and whoopee cushions. And no mooning, dancing Santas, candy pooping Santas, or singing lumps of coal, please. Other items to avoid include acne medications or washes, scales that you can weigh yourself on, and t-shirts with potentially crude or embarassing slogans (even ones like "Girls Rule").
So now, let's think about what make GREAT presents! This list is virtually endless, so you'll have lots to choose from. MP3 players or I-Pods, new clothes or jacket or Polarfleece, Video-rockers, CDs or DVDs or gift certificates to BestBuy or Blockbuster, portable DVD players, books that are popular with her age group, Nike or sports duffel bags, college-logo clothing and sweatshirts, fleece throws or snuggly warm blankets, photo frames or digital cameras, calendars with something she likes on them, bath & body lotions and soaps, purses or one-shoulder backpacks, personalized stationery, and stocking stuffers like chocolate, gum, and mints.
Just stick to this rule: just like when you go clothing shopping for yourself and you hesitate, DON'T BUY IT! When buying for a teen girl, if you hesitate, DON'T BUY IT! There are plenty of alternative choices out there so you can steer clear of embarrasment for her, and in the end, embarrassment for yourself!
