Everybody wants to do a little extra for their children, so making their birthday amazing is something that is well worth the effort. However, there can be plenty of challenges when it comes to making a teen’s birthday amazing as it’s the age where they feel a little bit more independent, and they want something a little more mature but also, at the same time, still slightly juvenile.
This is what makes them tricky – they float around in this gray area that they don’t really know much about. For that reason, here are some things that can help you out a little bit when it comes to making your teen’s birthday amazing.
#1 Get Them a Car
If they are of the appropriate age, get them a car. This is important if they have wanted one for a while. Getting them a car, even a second-hand one from the dealership down the road, such as used cars colchester, can be a huge gift for their birthday. It can show them that you are acknowledging their independence and that you are making them aware that you respect this step in their lives. It can also just make them incredibly happy that they got their own ‘set of wheels’ for their birthday, which is also a bonus, and something you might not have seen too many times since they turned thirteen.
#2 Show Them That You Respect Their Hobbies
If your teen is going through an experimental stage, whether this is trying to uncover their identity or who they are in general, you should help support them, and that goes the same for their hobbies. If they show an interest in art, you should show them that you support them by getting some arty stuff that they like. These kinds of things stay in a teenager’s mind, and they will help you build a stronger relationship later in life.
#3 Make the Day About Them
It is a mistake that all too many parents make to use birthdays as an excuse to get the family together, and the family ends up being the priority while the birthday teen is bored and thoroughly dejected. This can be damaging, so you should be making sure that your teen is doing what they love, and this might not be spending time with the family at all.
It might not even be spending time with certain family members, especially if they make your teen uncomfortable with their opinions and political position, for example, if they are openly homophobic or have said homophobic things in the past that make your teen incredibly uncomfortable.
Even if this is awkward to sort out, you should be supportive of your teenager and make sure that their day is one worth remembering and help them take a break from all the stress they might be under from school. This might even mean backing off and letting them organize themselves, planning an event with their friends, and simply bankrolling the occasion.