Gift buying for 11 to 14-year-olds can produce memories of that classic complainer. “This gift is too old.” “This gift is too young.” “This gift was popular, like, five minutes ago.” Don't stress. Our fun gifts are sure to make you smile.

—Judy Sutton Taylor

    Snowball Launcher

The kids on your list will be happy to drop their electronic devices and head outside during the next big snowstorm thanks to this gift that launches snowballs up to 70 feet. A practice target is included to ensure they're ready for a hard battle. $16.97 at amazon.com

    Nintendo Switch

    Gamers went crazy for this mixed gaming system when it was released last spring, and it was in consistently short supply until now. The device allows users to play solo or with a friend, connect it to a TV to play on a big screen, unfold the stand for tabletop competitions, or use it for hand-held play. $299.99; links to licensed retailers at nintendo.com or amazon.com

Mertritte Animal Headphone

    Tunes will no doubt sound sweeter to lovers of any music genre when they5re coming from these cute-as-can-be headphones designed by celebrity stylists Emily Current and Merritt Elliott. The gold finish adds some fun flare (闪光装置) that is sure to inspire copycats. $59 at pbteen.com

BBOP Balls

    If there's a more entertaining way to settle sibling differences than having warring brothers and sisters bump into each other putting on mega-sized bubble armor (盔甲), we'd like to know about it. Chances are, even what may seem like the most catastrophic conflicts will end in belly laughs after a few rounds wearing these. $69.98 for a set of two at hearthsong.com or amazon.com.

    When the fork was stolen off Bart Michiels's mountain bike last summer, he wheeled it nearly three miles from his home in Chelsea to Frank's Bike Shop on the eastern end of Grand Street.

Mr. Michiels passed many other bike shops along the way, including one that offers free coffee. But for 20 years, he has remained devoted(忠实的) to Frank's. “Frank's the man,” he said of Frank Arroyo, the owner. “I don't care where he is in the city — I'll go.”

    Mr. Michiels doesn't have to worry about Mr. Arroyo's relocating (搬迁). The shop has stayed on the Lower East Side of Manhattan for 40 years.

    After Mr. Michiels left, Marvin Priess arrived. A professor of chemistry and math, Mr. Priess wheeled in the Ross 18-speed he had bought at Frank's in 1978 and still rides today, at age 68. Mr. Priess said that over the years, every single part of it that couldn't be repaired had been replaced, sometimes more than once, at Frank's. Customers don't come for the ambience(环境). It's crowded and dirty; buckets of parts and boxes of training wheels line the entryway.

    The store is filled with about 500 bikes and you will find Mr. Arroyo, 72, six days a week. He has been in the bike business since age 14. Born and raised on the Lower East Side, he has employed and taught many young people in the neighborhood. He is also willing to repair bikes in any condition, as well as his neighbors' walkers and wheelchairs.

    English Epps, a lawyer, needed a new seat; his had been stolen. “I've been coming here since I was in the third grade,” he said, adding: “There's a new bike shop on Delancey Street, but everybody comes here.”

    Misael is three times the size of other children at his age due to a symdrome(综合症 状) which means he is unable to stop eating.

    He is so heavy that he often stops breathing while sleeping — leaving his parents fearing that one day he may not wake up. His dad Manoel Abreu, 38, said, "Everything is hard for him — he is a baby carrying an adult's weight. His heart must be working under a lot of pressure. If he doesn't get the treatment he requires, there is a very good chance that he will pass away."

    Miseal, from Sanot, Brazil, was born a healthy 6lb 6oz, but immediately he started piling on the pounds. Doctors believe he may be suffering from Prader-Willi symdrome, a rare genetic condition that leaves him with greed. He now weighs a heavy 178lb and is still gaining despite following a low-fat diet and walking for 40 minutes each day.

    Mum Josiane, 37, said, "He has been putting on a lot of weight since he was a baby—even when I was breastfeeding him. But it was only when he was one and a half years old that we began to worry. He was gaining 3kg a month and was starting to get very heavy. We know we could lose him at any time. Sometimes when he is sleeping, I watch him to see if he is breathing. I cry a lot because we want to help him. But I am also very proud of him because he doesn't surrender(投降)."

    Misael visits a doctor every three months to try to control his condition, but currently there is no cure for Prader-Willi symdrome. Paediatric neurologist(儿科神经科专家)

    Lucio said, "Every time we meet, he has put on a lot of weight — sometimes up to 5 kg. I think Misael could get help from someone outside Brazil — both medically and financially — so that he can get the laboratory and genetic testing he needs."

A few years ago, I returned from a family vacation in Mexico, where I'd bought myself a beautiful blue candle. I was so excited to light it. But when I got home and unpacked it, I thought, "Today is not the day. I'm going to save it for the right occasion." So I put it in my closet and forgot about it.

Two years passed, I remembered my candle and I thought, "Today is the day. I'm going to light it." So I went to the closet and opened up the box—and my beautiful blue candle had turned into wax. Now what struck me is my candle did exactly what it's designed to do—melt—but it did it without me.

That candle which melted triggered (触发) something in me. It old the story to my friend Gillian. The next time I was over at her house, she took me on a tour and she showed me that all of her candles had been lit. She told me, "I had waited a year to light those candles. You told me the story, and I lit them all the next day. "

I believe, however, that those small actions send a big message and show you're no longer letting life slip— or melt—by.

Here's my advice for you: Whatever object you answered "yes" to earlier, please use it with in the next week. Pull out your china for a random Tuesday night, open the Scotch, and cut the tags off a jacket. And don't let your candle melt in the closet.

Mrs. Black was having a lot of trouble with her skin, so she went to her doctor about it. He could not find anything wrong with her, however. So he sent her to the local hospital for some tests. The hospital, of course, sent the results of the tests direct to Mrs. Black's doctor, and the next morning he telephoned her to give her a list of the things that he thought she could not eat, as any of them might be the cause of her skin trouble. Mrs. Black carefully wrote all the things down on a piece of paper, which she then left beside the telephone while she went out to a ladies' meeting.

When she got back home two hours later, she found her husband waiting for her. He had a big basket full of packages beside him, and when he saw her, he said, "Hello, dear. I have done all your shopping for you." "Done all my shopping?" She asked in surprise. "But how did you know what I wanted?" "Well, when I got home, I found your shopping list beside the telephone," answered her husband. "So I went down to the shops and bought everything you had written down."

Of course, Mrs. Black had to tell him that what he had thought were all the things the doctor did not allow her to eat.