Gift Suggestions?

[gnomi]

lcmlc and Abba are going to a Bat Mitzvah on Monday for a girl they don't know all that well (she's the granddaughter of two of lc/lc's dear friends). And lcmlc is unsure of what to get as a gift. So... I appeal to you, the all-knowing friends list. What is a good gift for a girl of whom all I know is the following:

-- She's 12 years old
-- She attends a pluralistic Jewish day school

So, yeah. What does one get for such a child? Any thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

Comments

[jesshartley.livejournal.com]

Books (or a gift card to a book store)

[lisafeld.livejournal.com]

I second this: a bookstore gift certificate allows her to choose what interests her, but keeps it focused on books rather than the utter broad range that cash allows.

There are very few gifts from my Bat Mitzvah that I actually liked; I appreciated most the freedom to pursue my own tastes and interests.

[somehedgehog.livejournal.com]

iTunes gift card.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Cash?

[lomedet.livejournal.com]

my mom gave beautiful journals/blank books to every bat mitzvah in our havurah. they always seemed to go over well.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

this was going to be my suggestion as well. don't all twelve year old girls like keeping diaries?!

[thespisgeoff.livejournal.com]

I'd say a generic gift card - Best Buy, Target, iTunes, or cash. She'll be spending the rest of the year comparing her haul with everyone else's, and tchotchkes don't count.

[dianora2.livejournal.com]

iTunes is a good idea, though I'd make sure she has her own iPod first. Target gift card is a good idea, too. Kids that age love gift cards.

[rivkaesque.livejournal.com]

I got six pairs of candlesticks... but the one I treasured was actually an album for the bat mitzvah pictures.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Based on previous comments, it seems like gift cards are the overwhelming opinion. I don't understand why a $x gift card to one store is better than $x that can be spent at any store (or for other kinds of things entirely, like concert tickets, or travel, or given to tzedakah, etc).

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

IMHO, a gift card to a store you know they'll shop at (vs a generic "mastercard gift card" or the like) shows a smidge more thought went into the gift. not much more, and certainly nowhere near the thought that normally goes into an actual gift, but a smidge.

::shrug::

[magid.livejournal.com]

Whereas I look at it as "I couldn't figure out what to get you, but I do want to make sure you shop at this store." It's like giving a loan to the store, really.

[kuroshii.livejournal.com]

i agree with you! the only time i give a gift card for a specific store is when i know the person already has a huge "wishlist" there.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

Because, at least in my circles as a kid, cash was corralled by the parents for the college fund which, from the POV of the kid, meant it essentially didn't exist. A gift card which must be spent someplace fun is free money without the guilt of not spending it someplace more serious.

[magid.livejournal.com]

Huh. My parents didn't do that, so I didn't think of it. (You'd think that if someone is celebrating becoming an adult, they'd be allowed to manage their own money :-)

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

Heh. You would think that, but then I've been to BMs with a kids table that had separate, less challenging food for the honoree and friends. Talk about missing the point! (There was also the all pork and shrimp bar mitzvah, but that's a whole different story...)

[magid.livejournal.com]

"Kids food" for the bar/bat mitzvah and cohort?! Guh.
(I remember working with my mom to figure out exactly what we wanted to serve for which food event (kiddush, lunch, brunch the next day), but there was no talk of kiddie food!)
(Shrimp! Pork! Wow. Speechless.)

[elul-3.livejournal.com]

Bookstore gift certificate, or else one of those big, pretty (but informative) books about Jewish women through the ages. And/or a donation in her honor to the Jewish Women's Archive (http://www.jwa.org/).

[sorek.livejournal.com]

Since this is for a girl, I'm surprised nobody has mentioned jewelery.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

Personal taste plays pretty heavily in that sort of thing. I got a lot of jewelry for my Bat Mitzvah. I even wear some of it. The ones I don't wear are the ones where well-meaning friends or relatives got engraving done with my name spelled wrong.

Yes, they already had the invitations. Jewelry, is, shall we say, fraught?

[(Anonymous)]

My first thought was of books. I don't like gift certificates; I like it when someone finds for me a book I end up really enjoying reading. Think Jewish literary novels or collections of Jewish tales and legends.

[stakebait.livejournal.com]

I concur with iTunes or bookstore or other giftcard, but if you want an actual object -- funky patterned lap desk? Mom and I picked out one of those for a going-to-college present and it was a big hit; dunno if 12 is too young.

If you want to go the donation route I think Heifer Intl. is cool.

[42itous.livejournal.com]

Jane Yolen's book Briar Rose is a good Bat Mitzvah present... but not by itself. In my family we tend to give dictionaries, or complete volumes of Shakespeare, or nice chess sets... but for someone you don't know, money is usually the most likely to be appreciated.