How to Choose Presents for your Teens
Teens are the scales of society: you have to add a little to both sides to balance it all out. With this in mind, you need to go about finding out what your child likes. The major rule to this that most parents don't understand, is that they have to view the question from their teens eyes. A good idea for a male would simply to ask them straight out. Their old enough to know what's going on anyways so you might as well come out with it. Besides, it's better to do this than go out on a limb and buy something they won't like. Usually the answer is videogames because no matter who it is, all guys like videogames.
If you're shopping for a girl, then it's a different story. Girls don't like to be miffed by revealing your present plans, so if you're going to ask them; be very subtle. Also, even though all guys like videogames and should always be the default present, not all girls want makeup or clothes. You need to spend time with them before hand and intimately discover what the girl wants, or at least what they're hobbies are.
Either way, don't be cheap! Teens are the most vulnerable because they are at a point in they're lives where they think of their presents as a grading rubric on how much their parents love them, so if you're cheap, plan on having a more strained relation with your kids as they grow up.
A small tip/idea, if you have multiple presents for your teen for a holiday or planned event like a birthday, try giving them a small gift like a DVD or CD, these will excite the teen and provide them a sense that you know and understand their impatient needs.
Always think ahead, especially for Christmas. Don't wait until later, when all the good stuff is gone and your teens wind up with a pencil topper and some gummy bears under the tree, make sure you do your shopping early, be smart. My mother always said she would buy her presents in August, then keep them safely in the basement until the right holiday came around. Just don't go overboard and buy them the day after Christmas for next year, chances are; they'll get outdated or moldy (literally).
How do I know all this? Because I am a teen. Follow these tips, and you'll be holiday savvy in no time.
