Birthday Ideas for Son Turning 18 - Boston,MA

How about a nice leather wallet filled with cash and gift cards? It isn't just guys. I did nothing to celebrate my 18th birthday. The kindergarten teacher I was aiding for had a cake for me and the kids all had a party for me. I had cake with my family. That was it. Didn't even do anything with friends. Just wasn't something I wanted to do. Honor his request to not make a big deal out of it. If he feels it is forced on him, he will just be unhappy.

My son wanted cash for Christmas. But I hated the idea of just handing him one envelope with some cash in it. Boring, right? And it didn't seem very festive.

So, I wrapped up the cash we planned to give him, in lots of different ways. I got the money from the bank but requested it all in lots of ones and fives and a few tens. Then I bought super silly wrapping paper (I found wrapping paper with that snowman from Frozen, which for my 27 year old son was completely ridiculous but it made it all the more funny!), and I wrapped the money in about two dozen different packages (you could wrap the money in 18 packages!). Some were very neat, and I actually taped the wrapping paper around a crisp one dollar bill with careful precision. Some were wadded up and I used about 3 feet of tape, and inside was a crumpled up five dollar bill. Some were in really big boxes with packing peanuts inside that he unwrapped and dug through, only to find about $3 lying in the bottom of the box. I took a huge roll of cheap wrapping paper from the dollar store, and spaced out several dollars on it, and then folded it over and over, so he had to go through about 10 yards of wrapping paper to find all the money. I even bought a goofy gift card holder (it was a little shiny sequined purse with Barbie on it, meant to hold a gift card for a little girl) and put $5 in that. I wrapped one inside an envelope that I got the utilities bill in. He was laughing when he figured out after the 3rd package, that it was all going to be money, but in crazy ways.

We felt like he was still having fun unwrapping stuff, and we all got a good laugh watching him try to examine every wadded up corner of paper, wondering if he found all the money (I kept count of how much we gave him, so we knew no money got thrown away in the trash or missed in the wrapping/tape mess).

We had a 16 Candles moment for our son when he turned 18. We had just come back to the states and had to find a place to live like buy a house and we kind of "forgot". We took him out to dinner and such and got him a gift that weekend.

I like the idea of wrapping the money and putting it boxes. He still gets the money but he has to "work" for his money.

the other S.

Yeah, 18 year old boys don't really care much about birthdays or parties. Honestly I can't remember what we did for my son's 18th. I think because he graduated high school just a few weeks after his birthday it was sort of a non event, as we had a big family graduation party at that time and he got plenty of cash and we gave him a new laptop for college.
If your son is graduating high school in a few months I'd probably focus more on celebrating that and just make him his favorite dinner and dessert for his birthday, it sounds like he doesn't really want to make it a big deal and it's his day, it should be about HIM, right?

I wouldn't worry about a "gift" and I would just give him the cash he's asked for. JMO. Good luck.

He told you that he wanted cash. At 18 he's an adult in most states. Give him the cash he is requesting.

We always have a special bakery ordered cake at the house and sing happy birthday. Simple, easy, and fun. We just had cake last night for my youngest who just turned 20. We sang happy birthday the bakery got his name wrong on the cake and I didn't notice until we were singing and I looked more closely at the cake which had the name Larry not Harry even though the order slip clearly said Harry. It was a great laugh because I don't even call him Harry but call him H4. I thought I was doing something special for his 20th birthday. It was so funny. Oh well next year I'll go back to putting H4 on his cake.

Keep the family celebration simple but still have a little something for him but give him the cash he asked for. Perhaps his favorite flavored cupcake with a candle for him and the rest of the money for a cake or cupcakes for all could be given to him.

Respect his wishes and give him what he requested since you did ask what he would like to have.

I know this is a milestone. More for a mama than a son becoming an adult. I think the cash is the way to go. He really doesn't want anything else.

I think it's admirable when kids want to work while they are students. We don't expect ours to work since we want them to focus on grades and school activities/sports. I truly don't think they'd be able to manage that very well.

Your son being able to do hockey and school and work and have a life shows what a good kid he is.

I would buy a savings bond or some stocks instead of cash. My parents bought me bonds each year for my birthday and I used them as a down payment on my first home. For the 18th birthday we go to the bar as that is the drinking age here. I will bring my kids to the bar for a couple of drinks when they turn 18.

I don't think I will be much help . . . our son turned 18 in Sept and our daughter turned 18 just a few months earlier in May. We always do a family dinner for birthdays for all 6 kids (even with our grown up kids - we had dinner delivered to my daughter in Texas one year and facetimed us and her eating dinner "together" one year) . . . the birthday boy or girl can choose eating out or in, if out, the restaurant, and if in, the menu (but always my death by chocolate cake is served whether we eat in or out). We rarely have the dinner on the actual birthday due to work schedules for kids and sporting events/school events and we try very hard to get everyone to be able to come. We have kids that bicker relentlessly, too, but we would never allow a sibling to dictate that they won't go out for a birthday dinner because of that. Conversely, we have escorted a child who cannot behave on someone else's special day out to the vehicle and my husband and I took turns sitting with the offender.

We also do not do cash . . . a huge pet peeve of mine is giving kids cash for Christmas or a birthday. They get cash from Grandma/Grandpa so they do get some no matter what. We did a trip for our 2 18 yr olds to Isla Mujeres, Mexico but that also had an extra meaning - growing up with 2 high special needs siblings means you don't get to take a lot of fun family vacations without incident . . . this trip was just for them. For my older girls, they got gifts (jewelry).

I guess I would be pretty irritated as a parent if I had to badger the child I raised for 18 years into doing something for his or her birthday. I guess some folks would feel lucky that their kid wasn't expecting much, but on the other hand, it seems somewhat unusual that he simply isn't interested in ANY ideas . . .

Good luck!

Oh, I love the idea of a memory quilt from the old jerseys! Clever and creative.

It's so hard when kids are in the "I hate everything you think of, it's all so lame" stage, and sometimes they feel a little embarrassed about the attention. Yet somehow they still crave it. Your family has been through a lot of change this year, and sometimes that just makes kids grumpy, especially if they are seniors and embracing another change soon with graduation and friends going their separate ways.

Does he do any type of sport that he can continue? My son (26) is a runner and he just loves this watch that measures his mileage, calorie usage, heart rate, and so on. Oh yeah, and it also tells time - LOL! If that would interest you, message me and I'll find out something more about it and what it costs (I know my kid has has two, and he researched everything and there are many budget levels).

I would go with his wishes and give him cash. I'd probably buy a mushy, so proud of you, happy 18th birthday card, and include a heartfelt message written on the card and enclose the cash. I love your idea of ordering pizza to send to his friend's house but I think I would save the cake/ice cream for just family. Happy birthday to your son! Pat yourself on the back, he sounds like a great kid!

It sounds like he doesn't want much, so I like the pizza idea and cake at his friend's house idea. Then, put a bunch of cash in an envelope inside the pizza box. I think that and the quilt will suffice. Save the money that you would spend on something else and just give him more cash. Both of my boys were happiest with cash after a certain age.

Or wrap up the cash as Elena suggested. Cute idea.

I would not be comfortable giving cash in this circumstance. I'd say, "son, please think about what you would *spend* a cash gift on, and let me know and I may consider treating you to that directly for your birthday" If he comes up with nothing, I'd be suspicious. I'd rather give a gift card to his favorite store and make his favorite foods that day. What about tickets to a professional hockey game? Also, some people just aren't big on the attention that comes with their own birthdays, my husband has always been that way.

It sounds like he wants it to be low-key, so go with his wishes. I like your idea of sending over pizza and a small dessert.

And if he wants cash, go with that. Our son usually wants cash but grandparents insist on getting an actual gift and those gifts just sit around. He'd much prefer to spend the money on things he wants (usually video games) and sometimes he doesn't know what that will be right on his birthday.

Listen to your young adult son. He is telling you what he wants and does not want. You're still worrying about it. Tell him he's in charge of his plans and hand him some cash. Then chill. :-)