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When my teens opened their new cell phones last year, you would have thought they had won the lottery. For the first time in our careers as parents, we hit the gift-giving nail on the head with our boys. All those articles covering gift-giving tips for hard-to-please teens seemed a waste of ink -- at the time.

This year the situation is quite different.

When I received a phone as a teen, the base was attached to the wall and the handset was attached to the base. I could use it to call my friends if their numbers were local. That was the extent of the functionality of my pink telephone.

I don't have to tell you that today's cell phones do more than facilitate communication between teens who must spend a minimum of three hours discussing when and where to meet at the lame Christmas parade their parents make them attend every year.

Today's cell phones multitask as much as their users. By providing the best Christmas gift ever -- cell phones -- last year, Hubby and I have severely reduced future gift options. My kids even have a difficult time coming up with a list for Santa, other than their annual cell phone upgrade.

Even the most basic of cell phone models has the capacity to hold enough music to get a teen through the long, boring drive to grandma's house or a sibling's excruciating holiday pageant. My children do not wish for bulky stereos, albums -- I mean CDs -- or radios. Their music can be transferred directly from a computer into their handset.

All I ever wanted as a teenager was a stereo. I put my favorite albums on every wish list I ever compiled. My dad even went as far as purchasing the "Purple Rain" album, but returned it after he read the lyrics, which were conveniently posted on the jacket. I ended up with the "Xanadu" album instead -- my dad was a big fan of Olivia Newton-John.

One particularly annoying feature of my kids' cell phones is "record." The "mouthpiece" doubles as a microphone, making it possible for them to record enough sound to gather incriminating evidence against their siblings.

Even worse, they will record themselves singing a popular song. Then they will play the earsplitting recording on the highest volume level three hours into that trip to their grandma's house immediately after we've refused to stop for a burger because we're almost there.

I loved the tape recorder I received on my 12th Christmas. However, it was a little bulky to bring on road trips. It was also too conspicuous to record my little brother saying something I could use against him. Don't think I didn't try.

Unfortunately, my brother was always suspicious of the bulky, lumpy sweater I was wearing in mid-August or my reluctance to move away from the couch on which I'd piled all the decorative pillows in the house.

My children like to pull out their cell phone and use the calculator function to show up each other, their parents or anyone else with an arithmetic quandary. They especially like to wait out a mathematical disagreement, knowing the answer but refusing to share, letting the disagreement grow into a heated debate.

In my day, we had one calculator in the house and we had to wait our turn to use it for homework. Then it had to be returned to my mom's rolltop desk, exactly where we found it, lest we lose our calculator privileges indefinitely.

I have yet to find a phone that does not take pictures. My children are all novice photographers. The subject matter of their "pics" is quite unique. Most recently, on a visit to a goat farm, I filled up my digital camera card with pictures of my children watching livestock feed, tasting cheese and petting the farm's dogs and cats. One of my children, however, thought that a pig relieving himself of breakfast would make an excellent photo.

My kids are not wishing for MP3 players, recording devices, calculators, cameras, alarm clocks or radios. I really shouldn't complain, because another small device is just one more expensive thing for them to lose -- or ruin in the washing machine.

What they do want, which I will not provide, is data capacity for their cell phones -- texting, picture-sending, Internet access and the like. They also want to be able to make calls to their friends who are not on the same network on weekdays. These are things they will eventually get -- as soon as they are paying for their own cell service.

Meanwhile, if you have other ideas for teen gifts, please let me know.

Micki Bare is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau and the Courier-Tribune in Asheboro, N.C., and author of the book, "Relative Expressions." She lives in Asheboro with her husband and three children. Her e-mail address is mickibare@inspiredscribe.com.