Gift Guide 2020 #5 – Older, Annoying Teen Boys

~ Laura

Dudes. They don’t want anything. They don’t care about clothes. They don’t care about cute decor items. They don’t shave. They basically live in filth and despair, and are quite happy about that until someone whips them into shape. A certain 21-year old in our family needs a girlfriend.

Ian has lots of technology needs and wants. With Ian frequently doing school at home this year, he needs a new computer to run major, hefty art and music tech programs, which won’t run on his 9-year old Mac. I’m not sure if a computer for school should really be considered a gift or not, so we’re supplementing with some of the games on his list.

Yes, I know everyone wants a Sony Playstation 5, but he’s into the Switch. Here are the Ian-approved switch games: Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Club House Games, 51 Worldwide Classics, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Hyrule Warriors, Age of Calamity, Paper Mario The Origami King, Pokémon Sword, Pikmin3 Deluxe.

Ian also approves of the Lego Super Mario Adventures with Mario Starter Course.

I think the Child plush toy is totally cute.

For older teen boys, I like sneakers, a Hydroflask water bottle, Sunglasses, a school planner, a face trimmer, and some casual t-shirts.

UPDATED:

Published by Laura

32 thoughts on “Gift Guide 2020 #5 – Older, Annoying Teen Boys”

    1. Actually socks are in the Santa stocking (he desperately needs new pairs – size 11 feet and growing….)

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  3. Laura wrote, “I’m not sure if a computer for school should really be considered a gift or not, so we’re supplementing with some of the games on his list.”

    It will be a gift if he gets to play games on it during winter break. On the other hand, if you gave it to him for the first day of school spring term, that would not be a gift.

    I think that my 15-year-old boy is going to like the fleece jacket his auntie got him.

    Our teens have really been enjoying some orders from Yamibuy, the online Asian grocery.

    https://www.yamibuy.com/en

    The teens always seem to be needing new earbuds. Our family also enjoys retro gaming.

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  4. Old Navy sells some very soft long-sleeved t-shirts that make nice winter pajama tops and are inexpensive. The guys at my house like them.

    My teens have also both turned into coffee drinkers. A family Keurig (with a variety of little cups) might be a nice gift. They also sell reusable k-cups that you can pour ground coffee into.

    I just ordered my history-loving teen several books on the history of Rome, in the hope that he will be able to defend his school’s honor as the history guy on their Junior Classical League quiz team.

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    1. My cousin just bought her keurig because she was tired of her son making SUPER strong pots of coffee that he only half drank, that were too strong for her and wasted all her coffee. She has her medium roast and he has his wake the dead roast and all are happy.

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      1. Marianne said, “My cousin just bought her keurig because she was tired of her son making SUPER strong pots of coffee that he only half drank, that were too strong for her and wasted all her coffee. She has her medium roast and he has his wake the dead roast and all are happy.”

        Yay!

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  6. Husband started working on our Christmas photobook today.

    It turns out that we have about 80 total photographs from the past year, down from the normal 1,000.

    On the bright side, we should be able to zip right through sorting and processing them.

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      2. That is adorable!

        So far, we’ve gotten a package of Moomin cookies and a couple of Moomin mugs. (There may be something else I’m forgetting.)

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  8. A friend is giving her 18-year-old a premium Spotify subscription….

    Have to say (sadly) that Roblox gift cards are the best-appreciated present in the 11+ age group (we seem to have avoided the Fortnite craze). I really resent gifting money to game marketers – but have to remind myself that the gift is about the recipient (not the giver).

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    1. Ann said, “Have to say (sadly) that Roblox gift cards are the best-appreciated present in the 11+ age group (we seem to have avoided the Fortnite craze). I really resent gifting money to game marketers – but have to remind myself that the gift is about the recipient (not the giver).”

      I share your feelings.

      We’re getting our 2nd grader (!) a “membership” to her School of Dragons game (that’s the game version of How to Train Your Dragon) for Christmas break. A membership allows you to get in-game swag and opens up a bunch of quests.

      *grinds teeth*

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    2. We sometimes give music gift cards to my younger SIL and our older teen.

      We’ve also given a book or art supply “gift card” to our kids, where we promise to fund $20 of books or art supplies or whatever. The art supplies work better as an in-person visit to the art store, though.

      It also occurs to me that a post-pandemic family trip of the teen’s choosing might be a nice gift.

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    1. I never saw that before, but I may get it. Aside from a ton of indoor plants, our one covid splurge was a punching bag and that’s been good exercise/stress breaking.

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  11. In other holiday news, I was just chatting with one of my teens last night and discovered that the teen (who has spent nearly all of their school years in Central Texas) knew who the Maccabees were, the teen was unaware that they had any connection to Hanukkah. Teen was delighted to hear it.

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  12. Not to be a thread hog, but here are two good older teen boy ideas, especially for athletic boys:

    –put up a climbing rope in your backyard if you have a suitable tree
    –pull-up bar (we have a homemade one for our 10th grader’s doorway)
    –rock climbing training boards (we have a homemade one over our 10th grader’s door)

    https://www.rei.com/c/training-boards?ir=category%3Aclimbing-training&r=category%3Aclimbing-training%7Ctraining-boards

    We have all three of those and they’ve all gotten good service during the pandemic. My husband, the 10th grader, and the 2nd grader all use the climbing rope, and even the 2nd grader has started doing pull-ups. The 2nd grader has a LOT of steam to work off, even going to school every day.

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  13. Here’s one more teen boy gift idea.

    Our 10th grader has expressed an interest in edible bugs, so one of his Christmas gifts is edible crickets. I believe there are a lot of exciting edible bug options out there.

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      1. Aren’t all crickets edible? Not that I’ve ever tried them, but the birds around here eat them, and don’t drop dead.

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      2. Cranberry said, “Aren’t all crickets edible? Not that I’ve ever tried them, but the birds around here eat them, and don’t drop dead.”

        If that’s our standard, I can just go around gathering up live bugs and creepy crawlies…

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    2. “so one of his Christmas gifts is edible crickets.”

      That is *seriously* considering the wishes of the recipient! I can’t even contemplate……

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      1. Ann said, “That is *seriously* considering the wishes of the recipient! I can’t even contemplate……”

        They’re dead and dried, so it’s not like I’m planning on gifting him a tray of wiggling grubs with dipping sauce. But, yes, it’s not what I would have come up with on my own.

        OK, I just did some googling, and I don’t know if this is for real, but I think I have found “peak monthly subscription.”

        https://www.edibleinsects.com/edible-insects-for-sale/

        “A unique BugBox experience delivered to your door EVERY month.”

        They have hot mealworms, BBQ mealworms, sea salt pepper mealworms, etc.

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  14. Because we’re relying on online shopping for our holiday shopping this year, we’re worried about shipping issues. So, I’m rushing to finish everything today. I have never finished so quickly before.

    I also quickly bopped into the mall to try on a coat. I wasn’t sure of my size. First of all, wow… It was packed. It’s crazy that schools are open, and malls have about a billion people in them. Everyone was wearing a mask, but it was crowded. Secondly, there was a lot of spending happening. Long lines outside luxury good stores. Some people did okay this year and are looking to spend some casheroo. Wow.

    We’re going out to buy a xmas tree right now. Also, it’s super early for us, but we’re stuck in the house tonight and need an activity.

    After we put up the tree and make some tacos, I’ll do one last gift guide. I’ve got some ideas.

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