Please tell me the main gift you've bought for your 14 year old boy?

[OctaviaOrange]

I've got the bits and pieces and I'm lacking a decent sized gift. Any inspiration? Thanks

@AurorayRuben and likewise - congratulations to you! I'm not sure what to do with my boy dancing in front of me with a top hat on BUT if you had a post about it, I wouldn't swing by just to wind you up

And of course he wouldn't want a Glee DVD and a cane! You've raised him to conform to the so called typical male teen norm.

You don't have to do anything with a boy dancing just watch and appald same as if it was a girl dancing.
Why would that merit a thread??

You've made me laugh, so for that I thank you @AurorayRuben

Alas, you won't get much of a rise out of me but the top hat and cane thing is genius and peak MN.

I have reported one of your posts Auroray, it's really not the thing on here to insult other people's children.

@HopeTheHeraldAngelsSing

But it's true - most teens want to fit in with their peers and don't want to stand out - it doesn't make them all the same underneath, but there is certainly a sense of wanting to conform, and yes, many do wear similar clothing or like similar things. That's surely not sad, it's just a very common stage in life?

I quite agree. And in my experience at least, even most of the non conformists like to fail to conform in exactly same way as the rest of whatever "tribe" they belong to! Finding people similar to ourselves is a fairly fundamental need, or at least want, for most people and it's something that is particularly strong in the teenage years I think. I don't think it is sad or anything to worry about unless a young person is actively being prevented from doing things that they really want to do because they are afraid of being bullied for being different.

I think you would have a problem if your son was in anyway different to his peers which is sad.

Mumsnet is a truly incredible place sometimes.

@HollyJollyDillydolly oooo you'll all enjoy that! My DS has it and it's brilliant!!

Amazon fire 10" tablet. Bought on prime day. Case and screen protectors for it.
That's the main present then a power bank, wireless earbuds, very long charging cable, boot bag, new football, alarm clock and a pack of playing cards, chocolates.

Ds13:
rugby top
Rugby ball plus kicking stand thing
Xbox SE
North face tracksuit bottoms

Ds15:
New cricket bat & some training balls
EarPods
Ps5 controller (he's buying ps5 himself when he can get hold of one!)
Ralph Lauren T shirt
Posh belt

Both also getting in their stocking
Nice pants (TK MAXX is great for this)
Giant toblerone
Game each (Exploding kittens & catchphrase card game)
Shower gel & body spray or aftershave
Book
Satsuma
Scratchcard

If my son dances I will most certainly appald, might even join in

Mine is 17 now but he used to get big Lego sets at that age - modular buildings, the millennium Falcon, that kind of thing.

Primark onesies also - managed to get a cool PlayStation one this year. Other years have included Woody, Buzz Lightyear, the hulk and a giant teddy bear. He loves them

Skateboard bits to build own
Sushi kit
Hamilton tickets
Play scripts
Hair chalks
Jacket
Climbing stuff
Dry robe
Bracelet
Audible subs.
Alexa dot.

Awesome thread op. Thank you.

I did a quick pole of other parents of 14 year old boys. Other ideas:

Eco straws, coffee cups etc.
Fish. live ones.
IT. A huge variety of computer related stuff. Gaming, video editing, coding, music related.
Band related stuff.
Sport related stuff. Football, rugby, climbing, surfing, sailing.
Clothes. Various ways to cover your head with a hood.
Books.
Board games. 7 wonders seems to be popular.

[quote XmasLama]@SuePreem

I'm not the op about the Pokémon stuff but thought i would answer.
A booster box has 36 Pokémon packs in it
An Elite Trainer Box has 8 (from memory) packs plus sleeves, damage counters and dice.

Does your child play Pokémon? If not the battle academy could be a nice gift as it teaches you how to play the trading card game [/quote]
Thank you @XmasLama - he doesn't play the card trading game, just looks for pokemon things when he's out and about with his phone. (is that pokemon go?). no idea whether he could get into the cards or not. i'll subtly probe him.

I'm now interested in the guitar idea as well!

Ds 13:
Ps5
Headset
Lego architecture shanghai set
Under armour clothing

Box of Japanese sweets
American candy
Astronaut ice cream
Pizza Oodie
Chilly bottle
Cards against humanity family edition
Stationery set
Novelty politician eraser
Trump plush (inside joke)
Funny socks
Eugy sloth and shark
Japanese Pokemon cans of fizz
Fentimans cola

Books such as;
The penguin book of modern speeches
The Guinness book of record 2020
Nausicaa box set by Hayao Miyazaki
Interesting stories for curious people
Britain’s best political cartoons
Ripleys believe it or not
Anatomy and other science books

Last year Ds got an acoustic guitar for his birthda, and for the past 1 1/2 years has been taking guitar lessons via school (zoom during lockdown). He enjoys it. You are best going to a proper guitar shop rather than purchasing online as it’s easier to size one up and get a feel for which one is best suited.

DD14 loves sewing so lots and lots of material and other craft stuff.

And books always books.

The thought of my son with a cane and a top hat dancing to glee just makes me giggle. He wouldn't be comfortable at all...but thats OK...everyone is different after all?

Ds has an electronic drum kit this year and a big hit in the past was his Alexa.

@Feckmesideways is it best to start with an acoustic guitar? I am very interested in this for my DS. (clearly have left it until the very last minute...)

PS4/game vouchers, a watch and a (big) funko pop. We'll probably be getting him a new tv as well as his is broken.

I got mine a soda stream. He has no idea he's getting one but he loves fizzy drinks and I get fed up how quickly a 2L bottle of pop gets drunk in this house.

He says he didn't want anything so I bought him something which would benefit me too! I also bought him the Wagamama cook book as he loves their food and I will cook him stuff out of it over the year that he chooses.