Teacher sent home note about Christmas gifts!!!!!!

[aweebitgross]

I was amazed to open dd's school bag this afternoon and see a note from her teacher. It said something along the lines of

" Dear Parents,

Whilst we, as staff really appreciate your gifts at Christmas, this year we would like you instead to either contribute to or fill up a shoebox for our shoebox appeal."

I thought this was a lovely idea!!

dd's school is doing the shoe box appeal (not as a replacement Xmas gift idea though), and the school doesn't allow presents to teachers, instead we can give a donation put towards equipement for the school, which I think is a great idea ( as much as I like gicing stuff to nice teachers!)
Frankly I am relieved as that gift giving stuff can be soooo competitive

I think that's a good idea for those who insist of pressies for the teacher. I don't unless my kids particularly want to which usually they don't. We give cards with a note saying thankyou for your help with DD/DS#1 this year. There are 3 teachers in my family all of whom got so fed up with mountain of chocolate and smellies - and round here there isn't much money so they tended to be cheap chocs and smellies - whilst it is the thought that counts it's still a PITA to get loads of stuff you don't like or want. The music teacher in their school is very overweight and one year started a diet during the summer hols - by December she lost 3 stone but still had some way to go. What did she get for christmas from the kids - about 100 boxes of chocolates!!!

dmo- that's very sweet, but WAY over the top- £10 each!! Christmas and birthdays and gifts for their parents days- I'm amazed that you manage to make anything from childminding!

If you really want to give them something, make it something small, like a novelty pack of sweets or a book, then you won't feel so resentful if you don't get thanks. Cards, or a small homemade gift would do for parents days (eg flower made out of tissue paper for Mum). And forget the birthday presents, just have a cake and candles on the day closest to their birthday.

As for teacher, I was considering going to L'Occitane, or somewhere for a small gift, but may consider a goat or something similar from Oxfam- think she might appreciate that!

wtf happened to giving them apples?!!

What's a shoebox appeal?

or what about one of these?

dmo I agree with tissy. You shouldn't be buying beer and flowers for the mindee's parents. That is up to other family members. DS's CM buys him birthday and Christmas presents - often books. And I buy her a Christmas present. This year I have got her some Virgin Vie shower gel and handcream. I might also throw in a bottle of wine. And I make him write her a thank you note and make her a home-made Christmas card. She will also do some Christmas related craft with him and maybe bake me some buns when it is Mother's Day.

Surely almost everyone likes wine? If they don't drink it, they must know people who will. I gave the teachers and TAs in Reception all bottles of wine last year and one of them looked at me and said "We'll be needing that."

Now I've got a new thing to feel guilty about. My dd is in year 1 and it never occurred to me to get her reception teacher a Christmas pressie last year. Bugger.

Oh, hang on.... she didn't start till January.
I know I must be the only one in the world who doesn't know, but what is this shoe box thing?

Shoe boxes are where you fill shoeboxes with toys/clothes/toiletries etc to be sent out as christmas pressie to kids in less wealthy countries.

Lovely idea, & good to avoid the teacher christmas tat pile, I suspect.
Wonder if teachers wouldn't prefer ... 'if you are thinking of buying me a really LOVELY pressie (eg box of fresh belgiam chocs, massage voucher, bottle of sloe gin delete as appropriate) ... do feel free to do that too...'

Am definitely buying presents for dd's nursery teacher and TA - since September she has had several major knicker accidents and they have cleaned it up heroically.

I don't like shoe box appeals and want to give my kids' teacher a little something so I would not be pleased. Having said that, I can see that one upmanship present buying for teachers is not a great idea and Would respect the school's postion if the motivation was to stamp this out.

I think there is a terrible controllingness on the part of receivers of gifts these days though. I think that generally it's up to the giver what/whether to give. The receiver can then either enjoy the gift or curse the giver and put the gift in a shoebox/pass it on/ebay it/charity shop it as he/she desires. Soon no one will ever get either a crap gift or a wonderful surprise gift ever again. Everything will be either forbidden in advance or suggested in advance. It will be rubbish. There will be nothing to moan about or laugh about because no one will ever get things wrong and there will be nothing to be delighted about because noone will ever see something perfect for someone they like and buy it. And people will never learn that it's the thought and the thinking that counts because increasingly the thought counts for nothing if you buy off a wedding list or get a cluttering up the house object rather than an Oxfam goat for aunty Mavis at Christmas or, god forbid, buy a kid some paper and crayons for its birthday rather than donating to the NSPCC. Crapola, imo.

I never buy my dd's teacher a present

Always buy my childminder something nice though

the parents in a friends class club together and buy her vouchers. She got about £100 of Next ones! Much nicer than 10 coffee cups and some dodgy ornaments. I always give vouchers now. except my sons teacher is really quite rude so I may not bother this year.

at nursery several parents give boxes of roses, they often just sit on the side & get shared around the children, staff & parents. seems utterly stupid to me! i always give them a card, and if we have any 'spare' baking from the weekend (e.g. dd made biscuits) these go to nursery anyway, so i don't feel the need to add to the chocs at christmas.