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Teenagers

Parenting teenagers has its ups and downs. Get advice from Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

Ideas, please, for 'special' 13th birthday

16 replies

tearinghairout · 06/11/2006 09:32

Twins nearly 13 - dd feels that this is a milestone in a way that none of her other bdays have been, the start of adulthood & leaving behind childhood. In other cultures they have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah, or have to go out and wrestle a lion before they can join the men - we don't mark this time, do we? Don't think a 'Bonfire of the Barbies' would go down too well. But I want something to mark this scary but exciting time for them (dd and ds).
Any ideas, pls?

OP posts:
BudaBeast · 06/11/2006 09:34

Not too sure but it is a nice idea to mark in a special way. A friend of mine took her DS out for dinner on his own for his 13th. She has 4 and he is the oldest so I gues just having Mum to himself was a treat!

skippydog · 06/11/2006 14:54

I asked them - not twins - what they would like to do now they are teeneagers.
one wanted to go ten pin bowling with some mates
one wanted cinema and KFC with mates
One wanted dinner in a resteraunt with me
one is only 10 so dunno yet.
I would just ask them.

jessicaandrebeccasmummy · 06/11/2006 15:00

My 13th was a meal with 3 friends in a resteraunt all by ourselves (well mum and dad were in the bar!)

It was FABBO

carlsberg · 06/11/2006 15:24

My ds1 is 13 today, I can't believe he is already a teenager. He decided he wanted to go to the pictures by himself with a couple of friends, then they went to Macdonalds and they came back here for a while. That is what he wanted. He had an xbox 360 camera and a ds internet browser and the rest was money. He didn't want any presents. I looked at him when he was asleep last night and thought when you wake up you will be a teenager. Ds2 follows on in a years time.
I would just ask your twins what they fancy doing and go from there. It is more difficult for you as you have to please 2 people at the same time , unless they think alike. Good luck.

guyfawkesHEIFERgy · 06/11/2006 16:20

my nephew went to pizza express with his friends, whilse mum and dad sat at a different table far enough away.

I guess it depends on how ground up they are at 13...

I agree with others, ask them what they fancy doing...

nappyaddict · 06/11/2006 17:57

erm when i was 12 we all went to pizza hut by ourselves, when i was 13 i had a sleepover and went shopping next day, 14 was ice skating, 15th had a party in the garden and all subsequent birthdays 16th was celebrated dancing the night away in a club which notoriously lets in under agers and all subsequent birthdays were spent in a similar way but in a club that looked less like it was actually a school disco!!

mooshy · 06/11/2006 21:06

I too thought 13 was a real milestone for dd.She had been through an awful couple of years with one thing and another though.We hired a strech limo to pick her and her 7 girlfriends up from high school (right outside the front door ! ).It was full of disco lights and had strobe lights down the side.inside was a small buffet and some non alcoholic bubbly.They got changed on the way to Chester in the limo and there they went lazer questing and out for pizza.

Original poster
tearinghairout · 06/11/2006 21:19

Thanks people - I think dd would like the limo idea! Regrettably no, they don't like the same things. They have to be separated. They spend their lives winding each other up and taking the p*ss out of each other.

I suppose something that makes them feel like adults is the idea - perhaps a pizza meal alone with their friends would do it (but would have to be separate times/days/restaurants). I'll give it a bit more thought. And carlsberg - aaah!

OP posts:
fortyplus · 06/11/2006 21:36

Are you far from London? Took mine on a London duck tour - amphibious vehicle that splashed down into Thames. It was brill. It starts right by the London Eye so you could do that, too if you wanted to.

badgerhead · 06/11/2006 22:47

dd 1 turned 13 in September & we took her & 5 friends on a driving experience afternoon. They all had a go at driving (under instruction & with safety gear): quad bikes, blindfold 4 wheel drive, 'dizzymobile', kart time trials & 'proper' 4 wheel drive. They had a whale of a time & although expensive was worth the money.
DH & I even had a go at the dizzymobile, and dh & dd2 did the blindfold driving as well. (dd 2 is 9)

mumblechum · 07/11/2006 11:17

Badgerhead, where did you go and roughly how much was it? Sounds brill.

mumblechum · 07/11/2006 11:19

Badgerhead, where did you go and roughly how much was it? Sounds brill.

mumblechum · 07/11/2006 11:20

Badger head, that sounds great fun. Where did you go and roughly how much was it?

mumblechum · 07/11/2006 11:21

Sorry - don't know how I did a triple post!

Lexiloo · 08/11/2006 14:13

For my Dd1's 13th I treated her and a group of friends to a pampering session at a local hotel. They all got a facial, pedicure and manicure (well their nails were filed and painted). They all loved it, especially as they had to lie on the couch with cucumber on their eyes.

For her 14th I cooked her and 7 friends a three course meal - each course had three choices, which they had to chose before the day so I knew what to cook. She did the table and decorations around the dining area brilliantly - my husband was the waiter - and we just left them to it!

badgerhead · 08/11/2006 17:08

Sorry I took so long to get back to you, The place was just south of East Grinstead of the A22, I did a google search for quad biking & this came up. It is called something like Leisure Services, can't remember for sure. The cost was £300 (gulp) for 6 children for 3 hours, there was 6 activities each for them to do, so although it sounds a lot at £10 per activity per child I didn't think that was too bad considering fuel costs etc.

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