Waited and waited for the teenagers Christmas lists and.......

[myotherusernameisbetter]

DS1 (15) Blank sheet of paper
DS2 (14) 3 computer games

:(

I've usually done all my shopping and wrapping by now but I have nothing except a few books, a new phone case each and Pjs.

They just have everything and are good at taking care of their stuff so nothing needs replaced.

Thanks both, we do weekends away from time to time (love premier Inn), I've looked at alton towers before but they are not really into rides that much. not adrenaline junkies :)

DS2 has added another game to his list but it isn't released until 2016 so wont help in the Christmas pile issue, but when I asked which console he wanted the games for or if he wanted them for his PC he said that his PC probably wasn't good enough for them.......so I suggested he look into a new graphics card or something so we may have another item for the list :)

If you are rural what abut an air rifle? I had one as a child and got one for DS1 on a whim, 2 years in and he is shooting at county level.

Or a kayak? or guitar? or surfing/skiing lessons?

The Harry Potter tour also went down well a couple of years ago!

If you do decide to use a subscription box service I can highly recommend loot crate. DP is a huge gamer geek and gets these every month. They often get exclusive products designed especially by gaming companies etc well worth the money.

DS hated shopping when he was a teen. He wore whatever clothes he got free (T-shirts from various things he did) and basketball style shorts, jeans and sweatpants.

He was the motivating force behind the purchase of some family electronics that I might not otherwise have bothered with, but were great - a PS2 (many moons ago) and the Wii, plus some games for both that were good value.

I used to get him loads of his favourite German or Swiss chocolate for Christmas. I got him a few box sets that he wanted (Brothers in Arms and a few others) and a hoodie or two - sports related. And a few games that he had his heart set on, but usually he accompanied me on my shopping trips in case I got the wrong one. One year I got him a cinema gift card. It lasted him three years. I got him DVDs - he loved LOTR and some other movies that came out, usually action thrillers. He loved some of the Batman movies and Inception too. A couple of years ago I accidentally hit the jackpot with some vintage style T-shirts from his favourite teams. It was a tossup that year for me between those T-shirts and a packet of tube socks for him - glad I went with the Ts.

He just wasn't bothered by clothes or fashion. He and his friends liked hanging out in the basements of each other's homes playing nerf darts and Risk and some very engrossing xbox games, and watching sports and dvds. I learned from the mother of one of his friends that he was great at making brownies and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards.

He wasn't unsociable -- loved the company of his friends, and his friends were all like him. He just wasn't engaged with fashion, hair, clothes. For many years I had no idea what music he liked or if he was even interested in music, until one day he surprised me with a cd that he had made himself to play in the car.

If they're gamery types, would they like a gaming headset/mouse/keyboard/second monitor for the PC? All those things are not necessary for gaming but they can add something to the experience :) I never thought I needed or wanted a second monitor until someone gave me their old one for free. Now they will be prying it from my cold dead hands. Likewise the gaming keyboard (castoff from my dad) and mouse (couldn't play without it now, I have no idea how people with only three buttons cope).

Is loot crate the best one of those subscriptions? There are a few and I wanted to get one for littelest son....

If you have Netflix, what about an Amazon Fire TV stick? I've just bought one and it's bloody amazing. It goes straight into the back of the HDMI port and streams Netflix and the like straight onto the TV without needing to fuck about plugging tablets/laptops into it.

Magazine subscriptions.

Do they like comic books?

What about tickets to a Comic-Con convention?

Ooohhh, smartphone projector looks awesome. Pictures on the wall old school style

Are they into collecting crap, like models/toys from big franchises - Star Trek, Star Wars, LOTR, etc?

Air hockey table?

If they're into the outdoors, what about a fancy watch that had lots of gadgets?

Telescope? You could pair it with naming stars after them. You get framed certificates to put on the wall - I have one and it's awesome.

Thanks for all the extra ideas, much appreciated.

DS1 only wants a new mouse and keyboard for his PC- he already has a 2nd screen and one of these:

www.google.co.uk/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gaming+keypad&tbm=shop&spd=4719888228437954960

and a graphics tablet and his PC was only built last year so he is happy with everything else.

He hasn't given me any specifics of what mouse/keyboard he would like so I am now researching.

They aren't into collecting models or anything and tbh we probably have enough useless stuff lying about so I am not keen to add more - hence the reluctance to go for a regular box type thing as I think it would be a case of opening it, going "ooh shiny..." and then not even bothering to take it out the box...we'll see how the one off that i've ordered goes down.

I think DS1 could do with a decent watch - he doesn't wear one at all and the last one he had was when he was about 10, however he has exams coming up and wont be able to take a phone into the exam so a watch would be useful.

We got my 2 (DS & DSS) sky for their bedrooms last year and also signed them up for monthly contributions to dogs trust, RSPB and PETA.
I also buy them loads of the proper comic books.

It's so hard with teens who want nothing because they are happy and content with what they have.

Tutt - yes it is hard.

tbh we don't watch a a lot of tv and we don't bother with sky at all - we do have BT Tv as DH likes BT sport. We have netflix but don't watch a lot - we try to pick a series that we will all watch but currently we are watching one on BBC.

A typical evening (around DSs attending various things and DH or I driving them and after the usual chores/homework) really sees boys each in their room on PCs, me in study on mine browsing and MNetting and shopping or on-line chatting with friends and family and DH swapping between the few things he wants to watch and the PC in the family room where he has all his music stored and either listens to that, catches up on news or watches music on youtube :)

We try to always have one thing that we all come and watch together for an hour a week and we try to fit in a board game at some point over the weekend.

Weekend afternoons no-one is allowed on-line :) If we are not out and about visiting or shopping then we catch up on housework and reading and board game and rules are that everyone needs to have been outside for at least an hour regardless of the weather.

Those 3D pens mentioned up thread look very interesting!!

I just opened a next account and you get £10 off your first order so I got ds1 a superdry watch for £15

My DS is 15 and he also doesn't seem to want to socialise much. And that's fine by me if it's fine by him. He likes hanging around in his bedroom, learning magic tricks and designing logos in logo-design competitions online. He has not gone through puberty so finds all the girl/boy stuff that his friends are into goes rather over his head. My DD1, almost 19, did not do much socialising until 6th form and more especially when she learned to drive.

He did send me a 'wish list' last week. It was mostly packs of cards for his magic tricks and a special card mat. He is also madly into Rubik's cube and cannot get enough of different varieties of them, such as this puzzle cube.

And he gave me some search ideas: Rubiks cube 2x3. Petaminx cube, teraminx cube, 3x3x3 shengshou mirror cube. None of this means anything to me - I forwarded the email to DH!

He also asked for vouchers and money so that he can order the precise magic stuff he wants online. Nothing he has asked for costs a lot so he will probably get quite a few cheapy bits and then some cash so that he can buy other bits as and when his appetite is peaked by something he reads about.

Thanks badders, that was a good deal. I think the Superdry ones are a wee bit conspicuous for DS1s taste plus I'm already a customer of Next so no £10 off either. DS2 has a bright orange Ice watch - he isn't so shy :)

whore one of DS1s friends is into magic (member of the magic circle I believe) and rubik cubes and is still very much a little boy to look at....he has an older brother though and no sister that I know about so clearly not the same boy. Spooky though :)

On my part, DS1 has now said he thinks he'd like a new PC screen and I think I can get that and the mouse and keyboard in his budget with just a few bits and bobs such as books and PJs to open as well.

He wants everything in white so also wants to replacehis 2nd screen. I've said thata he can buy that himself and he is happy with that. I asked him what he wants to do with the 32 inch tv he is currently using as his pc screen and he says he might get that mounted on the wall (again at his cost) but as he never watches tv or plays on his console, I'm wondering if that is a bit of a waste and he'd be better off selling the tv. We'll see.

DS2 has said tonight that he has a few things to add to his list so hopefully that will bring him up to his budget too.

God it's so difficult isn't it. My DSes are 19/17/15 and Ive only got blank pieces of paper for lists so far.

Ds3 wants some t shirts....from America. Obviously we don't have enough shops in the UK.

And that's it.

Our trampolines only action is the lawn mowing shuffle too, and our two youngest are gamers. As our situation is similar to yours op, I'm basically thread marking and will trawl through for ideas tomorrow.

They really want just money, but I'm not happy about that for christmas! Birthdays yes, but Christmas you need a pile - whether big or small - of presents to open.

The NVidia Shield tablets are now back available for sale if that would be an option for you thickandthin?

Amazon have them at £150. DS1 has one and it's pretty good, he didn't think he'd use it but he does - if DS2s list isn't up to much then I'm considering one for him.

I have ordered ds1 a couple of cheap t shirts from Amazon....can't do links clueless but the seller is acidwash and I got a star wars one and big bang theory one for £5.
Have also got him some touchscreen gloves for his iphone, some next aftershave, pants, earphones for iPhone, a silly star wars putty thing, superdry watch and wallet.

Not sure if it's been mentioned yet, but what about a raspberry pi? Or an arduino? And waterstones are selling aa smart phone projector that looks cool.

Whoever suggested the mini LED lantern-that sounds cool! Can I ask where you got it from??

The brand name is Black Diamond - I got in an indie sports/ outdoors shop, not a chain but you can probably find them online.

Go pro type of thing for when they do out door stuff?

Swiss Army knife.

American candy.

Flying helicopter

Have a look on firebox.com too