What is the Best Christmas Present for Your Teen?

Are you scratching your head and have absolutely no clues about what makes the best Christmas present for your teen? Everyone is busy hunting for gifts. Perhaps you are still in the midst of your Christmas shopping and hope you can really make this Christmas a memorable one for your kids. Fret not, here’s your help!

Nowadays, you hardly see a teen without an MP3 player or for that matter, an iPod, iPhone or Zune. These youngsters are often on the lookout for the latest billboard chart hits, and they can always be seen humming the coolest tunes in town. So unless you have not noticed that, getting them a new iPhone or Zune would make a great Christmas present for your teen.

What if they already own an MP3 player such as an iPhone or Zune?

Well, you can always buy them the music. Perhaps getting an album or two would make them happy. But trust me, they prefer to pick their own songs and music. After all, mum and dad may not know best which are the hottest singers and bands in town and who are the coolest hip hop singers and dancers. It would be a disaster if you got them the wrong Christmas gift!

You may be so close to your teens that you know every song they are listening to and know what album would make the perfect Christmas present for your teen. Knowing our nature, they can get bored with the album after a short season. A short season can mean just one week…

Since that is the case, why not make a gift out of a paid membership to one of those download services for them? These sites offer unlimited number of songs, music and even movies as well as music videos – the right kind of stuff that would appeal to your teens. And you do not have to worry about getting the wrong songs or music for them. They pick and download what they want and as many as they want.

No, it is not going to bankrupt you. Each membership to a Zune or iPhone music service costs less than $50 and the best part is, it is a one-time fee for lifetime access. In this time of celebration, give the best Christmas present for your teen – a paid membership to an online music club.

Why not check out the recommended services listed below today?

Grandfather Clocks – The Perfect Wedding Present

You are invited to your best friend’s wedding and you are wondering what to give the happy couple as a wedding present. In a few days, you’ll be dashing around store after store to look for the best gift money can buy.

But this is not just any ordinary gift! You are giving it to your best friends. You want it to be special. You want it to be unique. How do you manage to get the perfect, unduplicated gift possible? Well, you can opt to be creative and personalize it and make it yourself, or you can buy it. There are three ways that can guarantee you to the perfect wedding present.

Use Your Imagination

Some people are blessed with a special innate creative talent for creating things out of nothing and making them special. Some people can make soap or scented candles, or make knitted things. But these are too common. You might end up having your gift returned.

However, some people also have the uncanny ability of things that are technical in nature. If you have this, then you’re in luck. You can most probably make something that they will most probably use at their new home, that no one else has ever thought about. Try a grandfather clock as an example. Maybe if you have a knack for woodwork, you can make this magnificent piece of art by itself just from a few how-to’s on the Internet. However, only a small percentage of people actually have this ability and has the time to do it. If you really insist, you might actually end up giving the grandfather clock on their silver wedding anniversary.

Alternatively, you can also opt to buy them a grandfather clock and you will surely know that you will be able to give it to them on time and know that it will be always used for many years to come.

Personalize Your Gift

Although it would be just fine to wrap your present and send it on its merry way to the couple, it would be extra special if you could personalize it. If you know the couple well, you should be able to find something uniquely special for them. You can have a personal message added to any gift, like a grandfather clock with their last names etched on it and or the date of their wedding. Make the gifts unique to them and they will appreciate the thought and effort you put into it.

Still Clueless? Get Creative!

Choosing a wedding present has become quite difficult in the past couple of years, making it difficult for avoiding giving duplicate gifts. However, that is the common case because if you have no talent at all for handmade gifts, let alone have the words to have it personalized, you are in big trouble. You are thinking way too mainstream.

However, you can make sure that your gift won’t be returned if you decide to turn it into a worthwhile project that you put some effort into. A grandfather clock, for example, is not your run-in-the-mill kind of wedding offering. You end up having an inimitable wedding gift for the deserving couple. They will truly take pleasure in it and benefit from it for many years to come.

When to Present Your Bridesmaid Gifts

As the bride, you have a long list of things to do including buy your dress, pay deposits to the caterer, meet with the photographer, and buy bridesmaid gifts, just to name a few. But, after you have completed these tasks, you realize that you never considered when and where you will present your bridesmaids with their gifts. The challenge is to find a specific time when your bridesmaids will be in one location at the same time. Before you panic, as all brides do, the following is a list of suggestions to help you decide on the best time to present your bridesmaid gifts.

Bridesmaids’ Luncheon

By and far the most popular time to hand out bridesmaid gifts is at the bridesmaids’ luncheon. This luncheon may take place at any time preceding the wedding, but it is traditionally a couple of days or weeks before the wedding. Today, many brides have bridal parties that are spread out in many different places across the globe; therefore, the day before the wedding may be the most appropriate time to host it. For other brides who prefer to have a less eventful wedding weekend and most of the bridesmaids are local then they may choose to have a bridesmaid luncheon earlier in the week or a month preceding the wedding. This luncheon is in honor of the bridesmaids and it is the perfect time to honor them with their bridesmaid gifts.

During the Reception

Some brides have taken to giving their bridesmaids their bridesmaid gifts during the wedding reception. This is sort of odd timing, but it seems to work for some brides. Keep in mind that the reception is center stage for the bride and groom; therefore, it is best not to present the bridesmaids with their gifts publicly. Discreetly setting each gift at the bridesmaid’s place setting would probably be the best alternative.

After the Wedding

Another great time to present the bridesmaid gifts is after the wedding. The reason this is a good time to give out the gifts is because you will have some alone time with each bridesmaid and can even take more time to focus on what to buy. The wedding planning time is so busy and stressful that many brides just don’t have time to focus on what to buy their bridesmaids. Giving your bridesmaid gifts after the wedding has its benefits and is becoming more popular.

As a bride, you may choose to give your bridesmaid gifts at any time as long as it is within reason.

How Your Future Can Rob Your Present

Going after your passion and Focusing on your goals are the corner stones of success. That is a common knowledge: one should focus and concentrate in order to achieve maximum results. It gets a lot of emphasize lately.

But there is a trump in this process of success. It is so easy to fall into it, that it should be spoken out loads.

Your goals are in the future.

At the Present, What you experience as your life, is the road you walk to achieve your goals.

Hence, your future determined your present.

So, the big question is what are you willing to do in order to achieve your goals?
Are you willing to have “bad” life now, for limited time, in order to have “good” life later?

Here lay the trump. We are sure that we are smart enough and logic enough to think in cost-benefit terms, to know our borders and have the common sense to make the right choices. “I have my limits”, “not in any costs”, “I have my values” etc.
But never the less, we fall into the trump of “too much focusing”.

Here is a story about a man who decided to go to the beach to collect some sea shells. It was a beautiful sunny day, few days after a storm. The beach was full of shells and small stones.
Our man takes a basket, and he is going along the beach, face down, looking for special shells and rear stones.

The beach is beautiful, white send; skies are blue, and few seagulls flying around. A pleasant wind and the sound of the waves complete the perfect scenery.

Our man is focusing in his mission. Time passed, his basket is half full. More people arrive at the shore; children are playing, the sun get hotter and the waves much higher. The basket starts to be heavy, the man sweats, but he would not stop. So many beautiful pieces here, he just needs to pick them up. Tomorrow they might be swiped to the sea. More time passed, it is afternoon, he became tired, he did not stop to drink or to eat, the basket is heavy, and he has to go through all the way back. Still he feels lucky to have these treasures with “no effort” at all.

At evening, he gets back home tired but satisfied. He suffers from sunstroke, and all he wants is to go to sleep.

At the time he was walking on the beach, he was so focused on finding beautiful shells and rear stones that his head was bending down, his eyes were looking at the ground, so he could not notice how beautiful this day was. He could not see the blue sky, he did not pay attention to other people, and he did not hear the seagulls or the sound of the waves.

More than that, when he came home, he was so tiered that he missed his family too. But still he is happy with his achievements, he thinks “tomorrow is another day”, I can go to enjoy the sea sure some other time, I will enjoy with my family tomorrow etc.

This walking on the beach is the metaphor for ones life.

His passion and Focusing on his goal to collect as many rear shells and stones he could, theft his life from him. The problem is that it is not something he was aware of when he was walking on the beach.
It could hold a long time until he will notice that his future have stolen his present, and it could be too late. This beautiful sunny day and other sunny days are gone.

So, the big question is what are you willing to do in order to achieve your goals?
Are you willing to have “bad” life now, for limited time, in order to have “good” life later?

I admit, this is a provocative question. Life is about choices. Choices could be conscious or unconscious. You set a goal, you focus, you concentrate, and you persist.
Soon your Automatic pilot will take control over your common sense, your limits and priorities and could take control even over your values in order to achieve that goal. Be aware; every thing is about proportions. Do not lose your present for the future.