photo by Flickr user Stewf
Towards the end of each year, since becoming parents, Moya and I have wondered what to give to the people who teach and take care of our daughter. In 2005 I asked my favorite former elementary school teacher for suggestions. She gave me this hilarious compendium:
Here are some of my favorites:
- a letter from a family stating specifically the things I had done that made an impact on their child and/or their family
- gift cards to stores that I use to get things for my classroom (most of these things come out of the teacher’s own pocket). These would include bookstores (!!! big one !!!), grocery stores, and teaching supply stores.
- movie and restaurant passes, and gift cards for anywhere
- food! includes chocolates and anything else… at the holidays you need to have stuff around for others, so if you love it you can hide it and eat it all yourself, and otherwise you can share with guests or fellow teachers
Things I would suggest you NOT get (although I can’t imagine you doing these things, but I have gotten multiples of everything on this list!):
- candles
- candles
- candles
- hand lotions in strong smelling scents (who knows what scent another might hate?)
- candles
- bath salts from a strange dad in your class (okay, that only happened once)
- candles
- kleenex (also only once)
- candles
- a free massage from the licensed massage therapist mom in your class – too weird for me, and I never redeemed (she didn’t learn though, and gave the first grade teacher the same thing the next year)
- candles
- large heavy statues of things like water fountains, angels, and children playing
- candles
Any more suggestions for what to give or not give to all the amazing people who work at our kid’s school?
Please, nothing with an apple on it. (Unless it’s a MacBook!)
Hilarious. No apples. You know, fruit baskets and food that can be shared is nice. I have a lot of kids eat a lot of my food — dried fruit, nuts, bars — so getting something I can share might be nice.
Here are some more suggestions that I got via Facebook:
“I’d add fans, small hand fans and large fans, because, while beautiful, I have received several silk fans, too many for me to use. Letters, attaboys, and gift cards are awesome gifts. I keep letters and cards from people, but telling the teacher a little more than thanks is fantastic. We so rarely get the good news. Candles are nice, but really, I don’t want candles. I want things I can use in my room or use on myself (Peet’s card for me or Barnes and Noble for books for my class library, for example).”
“I asked this question on my mother’s club (about 500 members) and was told that gift cards, cash, or an ornament were the best gifts.”
“I usually do lunch gift cards to nearby eateries for the school bus driver, the staffers at my son’s preschool, and sport coaches. This year, for my daughter’s 1st grade teacher she and her co-teacher across the hall need/want bookcases (it’s a new school), so the message is out to the parents for IKEA gift cards, because you just can’t go wrong with those Billy Bookcases.”
“Oh, man. I hear you on the candles. Gift cards to bookstores are always awesome — I probably spend a couple hundred dollars a year on books for my classroom, and about 20% of them ‘disappear’. Treats and food are nice because I can share them with my students.”
“a kind word really goes a long way”
… and from a friend of mine from decades ago (who’s not a teacher and doesn’t have kids) came this gem, “A pack of smokes and a bottle!”