So what do you buy a difficult teenager for his birthday? It really does seem that as soon as they hit that magic age of thirteen, they turn into a different person and they might as well be on a different planet when it comes to taste. They start playing on their games console on Chimp games and other such things that I must admit that I, as an oldie over the age of forty, have never even heard of and they start to listen to music that I just cannot relate to, music which sounds less like melodies and tuneful harmonies than a real, let's face it, racket.

That is when I lose all sight of what I should buy them for their birthday but luckily I have modern help to guide me through this dilemma in the form of virtual wish lists.

Although for my generation it might seem a little cold and calculating I guess it is no more than the current equivalent of a letter to Santa and most of my young relatives have some sort of online wish list before their birthday or Christmas.

This means that I can just log on and choose their present from a usually vast list of things which they have in effect chosen themselves. I can even have them gift wrapped and delivered straight to their door if I am really lazy.