Good leaving present for wonderful CM??

[Belgrano]

DD has been looked after 2 or 3 days a week by a wonderful CM for nearly 3 years now. She's been fab but Wednesday is her last day as she's going to nursery. Any ideas for a good present for the childminder? I did massage vouchers at the local beauty salon for Christmas which she loved but I wanted to do something more permanent now. She's a real hard worker so pampering did go down really well but any other ideas??
Thanks!

Is she into her garden? A lovely plant for the garden might be nice, like a clematis or something really pretty.

how lovely is this post - well done you for wanting to do something special.

What IS really special is getting a handmade card/present from the child - you - perhaps a collage of photos (and a lovely reference!!! lol)
could you ask her hubby if there is anything special you could give her?

I don't know how much you have to spend or want to spend but I suppose another pamper weekend/session.

Theatre tickets

Adventure session (ie red letter days)

A basket made up of pamper goodies

just some suggestions

ooh thanks some lovely ideas here. I'd like to spend around £30 I suppose. Theatre's a good idea. I don't think she'd buy herself a theatre ticket.

I think something made by you dd with a photo and a lovely card. Also if she enjoyed the massage then get her another one or another treatment.

CMs don't want collages or handmade things! Get real! Much as they like your kid, they don't want constant reminders of them. Only close family like that.

Don't bother trying to find something-it will be wrong. Vouchers so she can go shopping will be most appreciated.

Definitely not a handthrown mug with your child's handprints on it.

What about a nice/posh toy for the setting or craft stuff?

Although, my 1st mindee left at Xmas and her mum bought me some v posh handcream - whenever I use it I do think about them. [soppy emoticon]

What about go for something like Debenhams voucher then she can get clothes/house stuff/beauty products.......

I bought my old CM a necklace this which I thought was very plain to most peoples taste.

She made me a lovely scrap book which my DS1 still like looking at 3 years later.

When my DD1 left my first CM - who was wonderful and had had DD1 since she was 7 months but gave up to study - we gave her a digital photo frame. The inference was that she could use it to show photos of her mindees but, of course, in reality she could use it for her own family photos! She seemed to love it - and we also gave her a poem that I had written (as that is my kind of thing - but it was probably put away in a drawer after she had read it (and cried as it was so poignant!))

Poem is al ovely idea.

I got my lovely cm a ticketmaster voucher and a me to you bear saying thanks! Normalllt Xmas or birthday i'd get Milton brown smellies/spaceNK or thorntons....etc.... So wanted something different whenleaving!!!

I am sorry Moondog, you are utterly wrong - yes as a childminder I LOVE having handmade mementoes from children. I have kept all of them in a special box and I treasure them. Handmade means much more to me than anything else.

of course i would never say no to a treatment day/bottle of wine etc.

I keep a photo album (with parental permission) of ex-mindees and have a collage up of the children who have passed through my care. these are special wonderful memories to me, these children have become part of my family.

Thank you! I really appreciate all this help. Its given me some awesome ideas.

The best leaving presents I have ever had is vouchers for my favorite local restaurant-it was lovely to be able to have a starter and pudding with out feeling guilty!!

Pippin, I don't deny that. The fact is, as you say yourself, you keep them in a box to look at when you want to-they are not large things you are expected to look at everyday, such as handmade mugs and plates, hand and footprints, pictures of the kids in frames and so on.

Yes?

Update - I got her a lovely necklace in the end. I went to john lewis and almost got her a great picnic basket (she's always taking the kids on picnics) but in the end decided on something just for her. They had the necklaces - plain as one of you suggested - which was good as my emergency backup was leisure vouchers. Think she'd have endedd up spending those on her kids though, at least this way its for HER!
Thanks all of you.

Moondog, (sorry if it sounds like i am being pedantic) - things get displayed on the wall/ mantelpiece/shelf but there comes a time when things have to come down and yes it goes into a box for safekeeping. Actually i fib, i have two framed pictures up from minded kids, in the 'gallery' (dead posh me - i have an art gallery - well a wall in the playroom where artwork gets displayed lol)