Besides a car LOL!! Just curious DD's is coming up March 19th and I would love to buy a momento type of gift but she wants the usual clothes and a new fancy hair straightner called the sadu?spelling?
We are trying to plan a cruise in August but that seems so far away. So what did you buy or do???

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Without Health you have no Wealth!

DD I bought her a Diamond Cluster Heart Shape Ring (Color H ) for her Sweet 16 Birthday..I wanted her to have something that would last her a lifetime.

DS 16th Birthday I bought him a really nice watch. It looks more like a mans watch not for a teenager...He loves it. He wears it every single day since we bought it for him.


We thought about buying them cars for their birthdays.. Then decided if they buy their cars for themself they will proable take better care of them if they used their own money. I wanted their 16 birthday gift to be something they could use forever. not some little token that would be stored away in a chest in attic

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Angels may not come when you call them, but they'll always be there when you need them.

NOT a car....lol. We gave her a nice dinner/party at a restaurant that she invited about 15 friends to. She said it was one of the best birthday's she's had so far. We did get the car about a year later, but not as a gift. She earned 1/2 towards it and we bought a well used one.

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This space for rent

I guess we are the odd man out - we gave him a car - wrapped up the keys in a little box - hid it in the gargage - had it delivered that day. It was fun!

Since grandpa is taking care of the car gift, she's asked us for a party. Not just any party, a BIG party. We told her we would rent a small hall so she can invite several friends and my sister knows a DJ who's going to play the party for really cheap.
It's all she's been talking about. Hopefully it turns out as nice as she has it in her head it will:P

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MyCoupons Is #1 for Holiday Shopping

I got a birthday party with about 25 people in our backyard. We had a pool so it was a blast! I didn't get a car (although I got use of the family car). I got some 14K gold hoops I had been wanting

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Ok, I won't say a car then (but that's what our daughter got). Our middle one will be 16 this July and I won't say what she's getting either.

I got a car for my 16th (new but practical). My kids will ultimately get the same.

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Our daughter just turned 16 a couple of weeks ago....she didn't get the car she wanted but I did buy her a match-box car (only because she wasn't specific of how big the car actually had to be....LOL!)

DD loves jewerly so we bought her diamond earrings with a diamond necklace to match. She loved it!

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"Why must you speak, when you have nothing to say." Horatio Hornblower

Whoa...I feel like the worst mommy ever. I gave my son a 30G Ipod. No party. That's all.

When I turned 16 my Mom had the diamond from her wedding ring from my Dad reset with two of my birthstones into a beautiful ring. I still wear it today and I am just a bit over 16 now! My parents were diviorced so it meant alot ot me and it was a great way for the diamond not to be stuck in a drawer and forgotten about.

Well, I will be a mean mom too. I think an ipod is a great gift. I don't think a 16 year old should be given a car, but if they want to pay half of it, could possibly go along with that. I do think when a teenager has to pay for something, they will take care of it better. There is more pride in working hard for something, rather than just getting it as a gift. Who knows, maybe they will drive more safely knowing they actually had to hand over their own cash for ownership.

If a teenager gets a car for 16th birthday, what do they get for graduation?

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A college education. Yes, we are paying for our girls to go to school. Our oldest is a freshman right now (college) and she can work an odd job here and there for extras, but we are taking care of her expenses and will for our other two daughters as well. Thankfully she got a full 4 year scholarship but we still have room & board ($3500 per semester) and books. We are covering it 100%. Say what you want, but we can afford it and this is what we choose to do for our kids.

We took our daughter out for dinner and she also had glamour shots done. I can't imagine giving her a car for her 16th birthday. We told her we would help her out with buying her first car, we planned on giving her $1500 toward a used car, she ended up picking out a car that was four times that amount. In order to get that car, she had to get a job! It was the smartest thing we ever did. That was five years ago, and she learned a lot of valuable lessons about life. Some of her friends drove around in brand new cars that they didn't have to pay a penny for, and they wouldn't even consider looking for a job (some of them still aren't working)
She actually told her Dad and I recently that we did the right thing. It taught her about responsibility, and gave her a great work ethic. Thats one of the reasons when she recently got married, we had no problem paying for the entire wedding. We are very proud of what a wonderful, caring young woman she has become.

Agree with the previous poster, our family has always paid for a college education and related expenses and that was the main graduation gift.

As the actual graduation present, my parents did a check for $1500 for random college extra expenses (a good portion went toward a laptop for all of us) and a nice piece of jewelry.

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Has anybody ever watched "My Sweet Sixteen" on MTV? I hope I'm not the only one who thinks it's absolutely ridiculous the amound of money and the extremes they go to for these parties. And most of the girls are such spoiled brats, they don't even deserve a cake. When I think of all the good things that money could do instead, it just makes me sick. (I know, it's their money, they can do what they want with it, but still...) Do the parents not see how these kids act? I know the parents are part of the problem. Oh well, getting off my soapbox now. Sorry to get off topic, but everytime I hear "sweet sixteen", I think of that show.

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PUNKY'S MOM!!

It is disgusting. One I saw had the girl COMPLAINING about the $50K car she got and the the $100K party she had because Eminem wasn't there....

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

Welll....maybe I didn't give him the best 16th birthday present, but he does have a car (a '96 Passat in my name) that he can drive to/from school and work (but must pay his own insurance, gas, and maintenance). And I will be pay for his college. Course he has to earn it by getting good grades and test scores and getting accepted into a good school that mean old mom can be proud of I view college as in a completely different category than a car. It is an investment in his future....as is teaching him responsibility and that money doesn't grow on trees.

cj/

I've seen that show once, and that was enough....Where do these people come from, lol, the girl's daddy flew her to Paris for her dress and she complained that the Paris fashion was not American enough. Well DUH? Stupid show

Christine

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TLJ ~ Women United in Spirit

i cant even remember what i gave my 2 older boys at 16 but i still have what my mom got me its a white gold charm braclett with a charm that says sweet sixteen

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our daughter woke up with chicken pox for her 16th birthday. a gift from our neice.but she also had tickets to see arosmith concert for a week after her birthday.

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Wow great replies and how about the $500.00 drivers ed bill does that count LOL?

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We did give my son a car for his 16th - and just like he has been taught all of his life - he has taken care of the gift he received - and for graduation - he received a laptop for college and -yes we pay for his college. He is a good kid works part time and goes to school full time. I think wether or not a child takes care of a gift and appreciates it - is all in how they are raised -- so we never hesitated in gifting him a car for his 16th. PLUS -- he didn't have to ride with the kids that had cars - and didn't have enough sense to not drive while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. He has made good decisions and we are proud of him.

Bingo. Ditto what you said.

We did give DD a car, a Mitsubishi Eclipse, really nice looking, but a junker engine wise. However, it did what we planned, which was give her just enough freedom to have a taste of freedom, in order for her to want to work and get a better job, so she could buy a better car, so she could drive farther distances, etc. With the junker car there were restrictions, she couldn't go at night in it unless she stayed right here in town, if she went to the next town over (20 miles) she had to take a friend, also had to always take her cell phone and answer it so we could be assured she was ok. She did get a job and within a year had saved up and got a really reliable car.

What happen to them buying the car themself?????

My DD is turning 16 this year and I will not buy her a car ( yes we can afford it) . My DH & I didn't have someone buy us cars. I think some people make it to easy on the kids but hey that is just my two cents.

My DD will make her own money, save it and buy her own car.

I think we will be having a big party or buy her a nice ring. I am not sure yet

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Dawnie
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If there is a will there is a way!

Well, now I just feel bad. We didnt really do anything special for my sons 16th bday. We took him out for dinner to the place of his choice and then we gave him a card and some cash. Now, I am starting to feel like we should have done something more.

Oh, we are not buying him a car either. He is going to have to get a job and earn it. We will help him out but he is going to have to work a bit and help out with the expenses.



Darlene

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

I posted earlier in regards to my daughter buying her own car, and also getting job. I think it really helped her to mature and learn responsibility. I am a substitute teacher at a local High School and I find it really frustrating to pull into the parking lot in the morning, ready for a long day at work and park my used 2005 Civic next to a brand new vehicle being driven by a 16 year old. In all honesty I would say that the majority of the cars owned by students are better than those driven by the staff. There is something that is just not right with that picture.....but, of course thats just my opinion.

Thanks for painting that picture for us. I completely agree with your viewpoint. If kids are given everything on a silver platter, they will either not have a lot of motivation to earn things for themselves OR be very disappointed when they finally do have to work and learn the truth about expenses.

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I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!