gift guide #03: tale of the two teens
and one really great nanny
Happy Summer! Did you know? Submissions are OPEN to ask for my gift-giving expertise (https://forms.gle/DMuc3SPag8Vj6VSv7), and I’m publishing my advice and recommendations as little bonus posts…
Genius Gift Guide #03
What occasion is this for?
Graduation/Birthday
What are the parameters?
$100 or so each
Tell me about the recipient and your relationship to them…
I would like to get two gifts, for the teenage children of my nanny who is amazing and who I trust with the life of the person most important to me in the world.
Her older daughter is graduating from high school. She seems smart, and cool (she likes rock climbing) and she's an 18 year old girl. I got her a Sephora gift card for her birthday and that was a hit. She's going to a UC school in the fall.
The boy is turning 15 and I know almost nothing about him except he is a 15 year old boy.
Dear Employer of the year…
Good on you for trying to shop for teens. They’re mysterious, these Gen Z/Gen Alpha kiddos. Once upon a time, the youths were into recognizable, tangible items like “skateboards” and “walkmans” and you could go to the “mall” to see what was on “sale.” Now it’s like, how many Bitcoin does it take to grow their following on whatever Chinese spy app they’re obsessed with? And how freaking OLD do I sound right now?
Let’s start with the girl. If you want to be hyper trendy, get her something from the world of Labubu. Don’t ask me to explain the appeal here, I don’t get it, I just know it’s what the kids are into.
Speaking more practically, you probably want to get her something fun to take to college. A Sephora gift card was a great idea, and honestly, you could do something that’s that, but not that (Ulta beauty gift card, for instance). She’s probably into skincare, but any gift from that department runs the risk of being accidentally offensive, ie, “here’s some serum for your horrible skin!” The beauty route is almost as tricky, but I can’t imagine a teen girl not liking a product set from Rhode. Assuming she has long hair that will need styling for nights out, I’m partial to the Revlon hot brush, but the T3 Aire Brush is a little nicer-looking.
Moving away from the superficial, she’s smart and likes rock climbing. And she’s going off to college. Well, has she read Wild? Is it time to read Wild? Sometimes, a woman has to read Wild. Or write in a leather journal.
Simple but effective: a Nalgene bearing the logo of her new school. The kids are into merch these days! And also into hydrating!
Other cute stuff for dorm life: cordless mushroom lamp. Teeny mini fridge. Lil bluetooth speaker.
Now the boy. A fifteen year old boy. A person could send themself to an early grave trying to pick out the proper gift for a teenage boy, so I’m just going to tell you exactly what to buy, okay? This headset. Get him this headset with a gift receipt. It’s a nice enough gamer headset, it’s camo, it won’t make him feel any type of way to get it, and if he doesn’t like it or need it or want it, it’s from Wal-Mart, so he can exchange it for anything under the damn sun. This particular headset has to be returned within thirty days of delivery, so think about it, but basically, yeah, do that and don’t worry about it. Teenage boys. TEENAGE BOYS.
I will also say, while your intention to buy presents that the kids will enjoy is admirable, it sounds like your real affection is for their mother, who after all did most of the work to get them to this point… so if you end up buying, say, two nice picture frames and subtly suggesting that the kids put pictures of themselves with their mom in them and then whoops they forget them in the living room and now your nanny has two nice framed pictures of herself with her kids… that’s allowed :)
All my best to all of them!
Lizzie “The Gift Guide” Logan