[sulliavi]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

Give him some freedom sir; from your expectations. He will do well.

Give him some quality time sir. He will fare well.

Give him the right to choose sir. He will pick well.

Give him everything that you, as a father, alone can give him.

Being is, specifically for an adolescent, far far more important than buying.

Trust me, he will turn out fine.

Best wishes.

I sincerely salute to you for this advice !!

These are the "things" which our children actually need. I wouldn't say we should not buy them anything. Parents become over enthusiastic and make them do/learn everything without knowing their interest. Its no surprise why so many high-fi gifting shops have opened everywhere.

And, we should always remember this golden line - "Being is more important than buying"

peace

[dr_davis97]

Gift him a puppy and teach him to take care of it. This way he gets a friend who will love and follow him everywhere!
Taking care of a puppy and watching it grow is such a satisfying experience. This will also teach a lot of values like taking responsibility, empathy to your kid.

[v1p3r]

The best suggestions on this thread are around some form of learning and mental discipline, whether martial arts, musical instruments, baking, or spending time in a children's / old age home. Each of these will teach your son valuable life skills. I was very lucky to have exposure to some of these, and they are responsible for a lot of good in my life.

[SN88]

How about a beginners drone? If I was him I would love it!!

[IshaanIan]

How about a mini dirt bike or some regular karting? These might be a bit expensive but there's no other experience like it and if he enjoys either of them, then you would have captured his interest at the right time. There is something very captivating about the mechanical nature of vehicles; the hundreds of moving parts that come together to give you precise throttle feel. The muscle memory that one acquires and tunes to interface with weight shift and the endless tinkering possibilities will ensure that your son doesn't get bored any time soon.

[npawan29]

What has worked for me to choose gifts for my kids - I trick them to say that Papa has decided on your birthday gift and I ask them to guess what it would be - so there you go you get whats on their mind - it at least helps to get an idea on whats on their mind - hope this helps... happy parenting!!

[AZT]

You should anyway enroll him for classes etc but since this is a birthday gift, maybe buy him a fancy cycle. I would also suggest a video game console so you guys can play together and he can also call friends over.

All of my friends grew up playing Fifa on PS and they are fit and doing well in their careers. The whole unfit video gamer meme doesn't have to be true.

[KANNURAN]

Get him a Driving Simulator.

If he is a chip off the old block and mirrors your interest in cars, he will have a ball with it.

[Anduril]

How about books ? In a world of screens, books can offer a different charm.
Something a Tintin box-set, a Harry-Potter collection or a Lord-of-the-Rings hardcover collector's set coupled with their respective movies
If he likes photography then I think another interest would be astro-photography or atleast observing the stars. Maybe a good set of telescope to watch Saturn's rings and distant nebulae might be of interest to him.
Good luck !!

[KeepReading]

Both of you go for a Himalayan trek. It is amazing experience.
Kids learn lot of DIY stuff for small things.

[Hem.ang]

On his 10th birthday I gifted a camping tent to my nephew. It was a 'COLEMAN Sundome 3 Person Tent' (the idea was his father could take him out from his virtual world to the real world we are living in).

Camping will allow your son to pursue his interests in adventure, photography, astronomy, etc. This particular tent which measures 7 ft x 7 ft when set-up allows 3 adults to comfortable sleep and is very compact when folded (6" x 6" x 24"). Of course there are many more options available in the market.

Also going through the long list of 'things' you have already bought for your son, soon you could organize a give a give-away for the needy.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by ObsessedByFIAT

I am thoroughly confused with what could be a good gift for him.

I' sure you will get excellent ideas to buy the next gift for your son.

Hope you're not spoiling him by showering gifts on him one after another. Come tomorrow, think about the situation where he will start demanding expensive gadgets. Will you succumb to all his demands? If yes, that's bad parenting.
it is okay to gift kids with anything but they should feel that they earned it.

Hope this helps - I recently bought an RC car kit and made my kid build it. It gave an enormous sense of achievement for her. Here's a small video of the build:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnTPD15n6pU

[Latheesh]

OT
We never celebrate our son's birthday (he is turning 9 tomorrow) in a big way. A simple cake cutting (he select the cake) without any outside guests is all we do. We make him donate some amount every year to a palliative care center. Centre use that money for their few days expenses.

I see a strange trend now a days (post covid reopening of school). Many kids/parents give gifts to their entire class mates on their birthday (just like return gifts). I asked my son what to do on his birthday, if he wants to gift entire class. He was not sure about that. I asked him again if he is ok if we add that amount also to the donation amount we are planning to give it to the palliative care center, he is super cool with that.

He asked for some world history book and some giant mythology books few days back, that is all that idiot asked for his birthday.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Latheesh

OT
We never celebrate our son's birthday (he is turning 9 tomorrow) in a big way. A simple cake cutting (he select the cake) without any outside guests is all we do. We make him donate some amount every year to a palliative care center. Centre use that money for their few days expenses.

I see a strange trend now a days (post covid reopening of school). Many kids/parents give gifts to their entire class mates on their birthday (just like return gifts).

Same here. We don't celebrate the birthdays as if they are way too important an event in one's life. To be honest, I am not in favour of the gifting culture surrounding birthdays. Kids need to know that birthdays aren't their opportunity to demand anything that they want from their parents.

[ObsessedByFIAT]

Thank you for all the inputs, ideas, thoughts, suggestions and advices! Means a lot!

Update time!

So, turns out the little little one is way more smarter and mature than I thought! He very sensibly requested for only a few things, which were both manageable and appreciable by everyone in tne family.

- He has glasses for far vision. He requested for a pair of goggle with number, so that he can enjoy the long drives better. Wish granted.

- We as a family have never celebrated birthdays, however, he had been to birthdays of a few friends and wanted to invite them over for spending the evening together. Wish granted.

Not to mention, he had a blast with his friends and was very happy at the end of the day!

Coming back to all the suggestion our esteemed team provided, I am sure I won't have any doubts in mind for coming few years about gifting!

A big Thank You to each and everyone!