<p>I have high school senior girls at my house - and wondering if anyone has some good ideas for Christmas gifts? At this point, I don't know where they will end up attending, but wondered if there are some staples I could put together that they would DEFINITELY need moving into college. I don't want to buy too much 'stuff' - but am trying to spread out the expenditures for the necessities. Thanks for any suggestions!</p>
<p>There have been some threads about this in the past but new and fresh ideas would be good! I don’t really have any good ideas either though. Maybe some bath towels, a nice bathrobe or wrap?</p>
<p>Laundry basket or tote with a couple of towels, detergent, fabric softener, a roll of quarters and an iron.</p>
<p>Find out what decent restaurant is nearby (or Starbucks) and get a gift certificate.</p>
<p>Bathroom tote with robe, flip flops, towel and bath & body works bath gel.</p>
<p>Electronic picture frame</p>
<p>MONEY</p>
<p>If you’re talking something bigger, I say a rolling duffle bag.</p>
<p>Oooh, good one, Youdon’tsay. You can actually get those pretty inexpensively and they are SO handy for a college kid.</p>
<p>Yeah, SIL and BIL gave one to ds1, and he loves it. I can’t believe how much he can cram in there. Looking for a duffel fairy for ds2!</p>
<p>That’s exactly the kind of obscure yet very practical thing I never would thought of! Great idea!</p>
<p>Laser hair removal. </p>
<p>Sorry – this was on D’s graduation gift list…:)</p>
<p>Cute rain coat with a hood and wellies. Second the rolling duffle bag too. After sending one to college I have learned less is better but some things you cannot live without.</p>
<p>Despite the etiquette police saying it’s “tacky,” most of the available research indicates that cash is the most highly valued gift. One study found that a gift is rated 20 percent less than stuff people buy themselves. In other words, that $100 backpack is rated at $80 if it’s a gift, but is rated at $100 when people buy it for themselves. If getting the cash to the person is a logistical problem, don’t buy a store gift card, which looks the person in, but consider something like the AMEX Blue Cash card. It works like a credit card, but no fees and it’s reloadable.</p>
<p>[Blue</a> Cash Everyday(SM) Credit Card - American Express](<a href=“http://www304.americanexpress.com/getthecard/learn-about/BlueCash-Everyday]Blue”>http://www304.americanexpress.com/getthecard/learn-about/BlueCash-Everyday)</p>
<p>I commonly give an Amazon gift card since it sells almost everything at the best prices. Someone once gave me a Best Buy card and until I got the iPad I’m writing this post on, I could never find anything less expensive than Amazon, or even equal in price. No wonder they call Best Buy, “Amazon’s Showroom.”</p>
<p>And, remember, cash is the way to stamp out regifting!</p>
<p>[Stamp</a> Out Regifting?Give Cash | Psychology Today](<a href=“http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/adventures-in-old-age/200912/stamp-out-regifting-give-cash]Stamp”>http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/adventures-in-old-age/200912/stamp-out-regifting-give-cash)</p>
<p>[Texas</a> A&M Aggies NCAA Coronado Series Rolling Duffle Bag](<a href=“http://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/texas-a-m-aggies-ncaa-coronado-series-rolling-duffle-bag.html?CID=GoogleShopping]Texas”>http://www.sportsunlimitedinc.com/texas-a-m-aggies-ncaa-coronado-series-rolling-duffle-bag.html?CID=GoogleShopping)</p>
<p>Just saying. :D</p>
<p>Oh yea. My D wants a new set every year for campus. This year her classes are super close to her dorm, so she can almost just make a mad dash! LOL</p>
<p>This gift from a good friend of mine to our daughter continues to be a godsend for her when she just needs to block out noise to sleep, and her iTunes earbuds simply cannot drown-out the party next door, snoring, or whatever noxious noise is making her crazy. They’ve been indispensable when was sick and needed to nap during the day. Awesome on flights, also.</p>
<p>Funny, cromette! I don’t think we’re quite there!</p>
<p>Yeah, laser hair removal was not on ds1’s Christmas list. I’ll ask ds2. ;)</p>
<p>Garmin, also agree with the digital picture frame. (the frames are usually $20 Black Friday at Wal Mart)</p>
<p>Agree with the headphones. We had to buy ds some for a media class, and he uses them all the time, especially on flights!</p>
<p>My daughter loves her kindle, which she used (with the help of Amazon giftcards) to take the books she treasured with her to college without hauling a ton of weight of books that she didn’t have space to store. Plus, several of the books they’re reading in Anthropology are available on kindle.</p>
<p>We bought her two pieces of luggage for graduation – one larger (checked bag) size and one carry-on size. The gift included easily identifiable luggage tags and a luggage scale.</p>
<p>If your child doesn’t already have a passport, how about paying the passport fee? It was suggested to us that she bring hers to college.</p>
<p>Skype is fairly ubiquitous at college. Your student might need headphones with a mike and/or a webcam to make skype easier. (Actually, you might also need/want those things for home, too).</p>
<p>Every student should have a few dishes, glasses, and silverware with them at school. So, if you can find something cute that might make a nice Christmas present.</p>
<p>If you want store specific stuff, it appears that college move-ins are Container Store, Target, and Bed Bath & Beyond fests. Gift cards to those places are valuable.</p>
<p>Along the same lines, my senior S has a very tight group of friends. They are a great group of kids and have all been very loyal to each other. They are at our house a lot and I will really miss all of them when my son leaves next year. I was trying to think of something little that I could get each of about 4-5 boys. Some are going away to school and a couple will be staying her for CC. Any ideas??? Of course they can all use cash, but I couldn’t give each enough to make much difference, and would rather give something more personal. Thank you if anyone has any really unique suggestions!</p>
<p>For my kids, December was so far away from leaving for college that they wouldn’t have liked any of these [very good] suggestions. I was living months into the future while they were firmly in the present…asking for things like snowboards and gift cards for the places they frequented at the time.</p>
<p>The years our kids were high school seniors we did NOT give them college “stuff”. Since both applied to a variety of colleges, we didn’t even know the climate of their prospective schools. Plus…they had spent so much time with college applications and such before Christmas, we decided Christmas would not include college things.</p>
<p>For our DD, we gave a manicure/pedicure gift day, new PJ pants, gift card to the gas station she used, gift card to dunkin donuts and a new travel mug, and ITunes gift cards.</p>
<p>I suppose some of those things could have made it to college!</p>