Teenagers are a PAIN. Period. End of Sentence. They are also difficult to shop for at Christmas. There’s no Teenagers ‘R Us for them. And thank God. The smell alone would be horrible. Hormone-induced crying fits in the aisles. What a mess.

There are three basic categories of items for them for Christmas: Clothes, books, and technology.

1. Clothes. Jonah likes the cool, alternative teenager boy look. So, he’s getting a cap to pull down to his eyes. Teenage boys are too cool to wear winter jackets, so we’re looking for the warmest sweatshirt ever. My nieces will get cute dresses from Forever 21. And for the stocking of every teenage boy — Axe Bodyspray.

2. Technology. Jonah needs a Dell laptop for school. And gaming, to be truthful. I told him that he could get one violent video game as long as it wasn’t Grand Theft Auto. He said he needs Battlefield 4 – Xbox 360. The Soundfreaq SFQ-07WW Sound Spot Compact Speaker, Wood and White is adorable. He’s not getting it, but it’s adorable. Maybe I’ll throw in some new earbuds in the stocking. He bought himself some Gamer Headphones with birthday money.

3. Books. I haven’t tackled books yet. My SIL, the English teacher, has to send me her list of YA novels. There’s the last in the Divergent series – Allegiant (Divergent Series), but I’m not sure if boys are into that series.

4. Odds and Ends. I’m slowly fixing up the basement into a teenage rec room. I took the flowered wallpaper off the powder room and painted it blue. I upholstered the sofa in blue denim. (Pictures will follow soon.) I wish I gotten my act together and painted the walls sweatshirt grey in time for Christmas, because it would be cool for him to wake up in the morning and find a massive Star Wars decal on the wall and huge bean bags around the TV.