From Their Parents
Victor, 15: I’m a big soccer player, and my soccer ball popped a few weeks ago, so I need that. Ideally Nike or Adidas, but as long as it’s quality, I don’t care.
Eli, 15: I want a laptop so I can get more organized with my schoolwork.
Marley, 15: Some earrings; books; concert tickets, maybe. And a little phone printer.
Ava, 15: Over-the-ear wireless headphones — the Sony XM4 or XM5 ones in beige are really popular. Olivia Rodrigo tickets because her album just dropped. And then for earrings, I like the brand Caitlyn Minimalist.
Lola, 15: I’ve heard of this book called The Song of Achilles. Lots of people are saying it’s good.
Ava: Oh, yeah. I love that book.
Marley: I was actually wanting The Song of Achilles too — and also Archer’s Voice.
Eli: I do play video games. But a lot of games are like $60; they’re kind of expensive. I have a Switch, and I want to get this game called 1-2-Switch.
From Their Friends
Ava: I’ve made my friends jewelry or I’ve gotten fuzzy socks before. I like to bake, so sometimes I bring things I’ve made. We did Secret Santa.
Victor: Oh, yeah. I don’t remember what we did for that.
Ava: We gave you a dinosaur lightsaber.
Eli: We set a budget of $15, $20. I got just a bunch of little things — stuffed animals and a candy jar. I got them all at Five Below, so it wasn’t too expensive.
Ava: I got jewelry from Caitlyn Minimalist and candles — the bubbly ones.
Lola: I got a baseball cap with a cat on it that says QUIETLY JUDGING.
Marley: I received my now-favorite book, The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo.
And Not at All
Lola: As for gifts I don’t like: They’re usually not bad; they’re just things I’m not interested in using from people who haven’t seen me for a while. Or it’s like, “I remember, when you were little, you had a cat obsession,” and so everything they get me every year is cat-related.
Eli: One of my relatives bought me a gingerbread house, and I’d never made one before, so I was actually really excited about it. But then I made it and it all fell apart and we couldn’t figure out why. And then we looked at the box more, and you were supposed to make it out of a nonedible glue, so it’s for decoration, not to eat. And I just remember being very disappointed. It was my first gingerbread house.
Ava: Usually it’s more childish stuff, like a coloring book or something I definitely wouldn’t use now. I got a coding book once, and I don’t code, so I … didn’t use it.
Victor: I got a math book because my parents wanted me to study math more.
Ava: Yeah, like things that are too school-related.
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