14th birthday - party? Presents? What did you do?

[TabbyTigger]

(Sorry to post two threads so close together!)

DD turns 14 mid-March and I am pregnant, baby is due in approximately two weeks!

I’m completely stumped as to what to do/get. I’ve bought a few bits and pieces but all I got her for Christmas was little things, so I want to get something a bit more exciting. But I don’t know what!

She’s quite sporty (netball/trampolining/swimming/hockey), a little interested in art/makeup/fashion, and very sociable.

So far I’ve bought 2 books, some make up brushes, socks, and 2 tops. I considered buying a netball post as a big present but our garden is mostly grass (though I suppose a netball doesn’t need to be bounced) so I’m not sure how useful it’d be.

As for party - I think she’s planning on having round nine (eek) friends for a sleepover, but I was wondering what to organise for the day. Last year we did children’s party games (mostly ones that make you look silly!) as a bit of a joke and it was very funny, but I don’t want to reuse that. I love planning parties but feel really quite tired and achey and know I’ll be even more tired when baby arrives, so think I need to be ready now!

What did you all do for your 14yo’s birthday?

Mine is 16 next weekend and it's the first year where I am really stumped.
Anyway, at 13, 14, and 15 we did sleepovers for DS. His 4-5 best mates came home from school with him on the Friday closest to his birthday, ate pizza, had cake, mucked around and played with his old Nerf guns, and played Play Station/computer games all night. I remember this being particularly fun for them at 14. They had a blast, a proper giggle. It was tiring for me (because I could hear them laughing their heads off at 4am). But I have to say, I miss it now. They're all still best of mates but I think a sleepover and gaming isn't going to cut it this year.

In your shoes with the baby imminent (congratulations!) I think I would organise an outing outside the home: go-ape, climbing wall, go-carting, skating etc, followed by dinner at a pizza restaurant or pizzas at home. A bit £££££ but worth it in terms of convenience.

Think you are a saint to be having nine 14 yr olds over for a sleepover btw! My limit is three!

If you're in London, or near enough, I recommend Madame Tussaud's, Thames Rockets, Young Driver (also elsewhere), Angels the costume company

SteamCloud luckily we have a sort of outhouse space so just shove them all in there with mattresses and duvets

Unfortunately we’re actually too “in London” for those suggestions to be interesting to DD Davros - I think most have been done for parties/day trips/even school trips before!

I’m veering towards a sort of cake making party - we have a big kitchen so I could just get them lots of ingredients and recipes to make lots of different cakes, maybe even in a “bake off” style with teams + my younger DDs as judges.

Any present suggestions? As I said - sports, makeup, fashion, reading are her main interests, but she’s got enough makeup and most of the sports equipment she needs so I just don’t know!

Gah! Bake Off sounds promising. You could give them baking related goodies if you're sending them home with something. The Primrose Bakery book is nice 🎂

That’s what I thought Davros - you can’t go wrong with baked goods! (I was going to say cake but one friend can’t eat eggs, so I’m going to find some egg-free things like biscuits to make as well!)

watching for present ideas - i have a dd who is 14 in march and she cannot think of anything she wants. She's not interested in make up, happy with the clothes she has etc... What a lovely position to be in hey but not great for me or anyone else who keeps asking me what she wants!

DD is going to be 15 soon. She would like a Canada Goose jacket but I looked at the prices. I did think of Timberland boots but she's gone off them. Only other thoughts at the moment are a denim jacket and magazine subscription. Not very inspiring!

I just bought DD a Bluetooth speaker for her 15th birthday as she is always listening to music on her phone, it was a big hit. Re. the party I think your idea of a bake off is fab if you can handle the mess popcorn/pizza/movies is usually how sleepovers go here.

Just pack 'em off to Nando's

TeddTess DD is similar - she likes makeup and clothes but has all she really wants of either. What else is she interested in?

I’ve ended up opting for a kayaking day trip for DD’s main present - I’ve booked two places and said she can either take me (eek!) or a friend/her sister.

ToesinWater I bought her sister one for her 12th birthday (they share a room) and they LOVE it! Might that be good for your DD TeddTess? Previous hits for my DDs have also been fairy lights, light boxes, big photo/coffee table style books (Humans of New York, making of Hamilton/Dear Evan Hansen/The Great Comet, Modern Women: 52 Pioneers, Wildlife Photographer of the Year), trainers (from her grandparents DD is getting some nike trainers this year and last year I got her some Stan Smiths). Those Polaroid mini cameras went down well too! I’m also saving the netball post idea for DD2, who’s 13 in August.

We did “Cinema Night” two years ago with the sleepover. As it’s mostly the same bunch I like to mix things up every year. Have talked to DD about the bake-off idea and she likes it! We have a big kitchen so surely it can’t go too wrong... I enjoy birthday party planning really.

That modern women book looks great, thanks
Am thinking an afternoon tea for her and a few friends... will see how that goes down / might spur her on to get thinking.

She got a speaker last year, was a great present.
She might like a lightbox

I got DD one of those little printers you can attach to your phone, that went down well. We got her a good keyboard (musical not computer) a couple of years ago. I also got her a drinks chiller for her "quarters" which she liked but it needs regular refilling. I also got her a cheap hoover at Xmas for a bit of a joke but not entirely!

We’ve had a bake-off party before but got the kids doing a couple of the technical challenges. You can find the recipes online and they had a great time trying to get their stuff looking identical at the end for the judging