What Your Child's Teacher Really Wants For Christmas

This is definitely NOT what you should buy your child's teacher for Christmas. 

Ok. Before I begin please, please, DO NOT be offended here. I am going to speak the TRUTH. I have been a teacher for 15 years. I know good teacher gifts from bad teacher gifts. I have received the gamut of them over the years. 

My classroom. The kids doing a measurement math lesson. DO you see how much fun they are having? THIS is REAL learning. Yarn for activity $3.00

A little dose of reality, and a small plug for teachers...

First of all, I just want you to know we work HARD. We spend countless hours and a lot of our own money to make our classrooms great. We work with your children every day, EVERY DAY. Patiently. A lot of us go home to our own families and children at night. I would like you to picture that for a minute. Teaching school and then going home to children after being with 30 of them all day. Your energy is sucked dry, you are tired. Because...... you are a good teacher and you give those kids everything you have all day long. 

I have heard parents say things like, "Teachers work for ME, I pay taxes." No, actually we don't. We want to work WITH you to help your child become a successful adult because that is every teachers goal. This is also the reason why most people like myself ARE teachers, we believe in the future. We invest in those kids every day because they ARE the future and WE believe in them. We are not objects for you to treat poorly, to make rude remarks about. That is hurtful, if you only knew how much we LOVE your child and how incredibly difficult our job is you would never say mean things like that...OR be critical. 

 In fact, for instance you know those ugly Christmas ornaments you receive as a gift each year hand made by your child in class? You know, glitter, yarn, picture of your kid? I just bought the supplies for my class to make those ornaments for YOU for Christmas and did you know that it cost me over $100.00 of my own money? 

Please don't input your opinion here of: "Well, you DIDN'T HAVE to spend money for ornaments." 

Yes. I did. Do you know why? 

Because it is important for children to learn how good it feels to give, and especially to give of themselves on something THEY worked hard to make. 

Oh, and that doesn't even include the $65.00 I spent so I could give each of your children a little gift from me. You should also know, I am not doing this so you will compensate me at Christmas with a nice gift. No. I do this out of LOVE for you and your child.

I took last Thursday off so I could chaperon Ellie's field trip. As I sat on the bus with her, other Mom's were loading on to the bus. I heard several explain how "Exhausted" they were after being on the field trip. In my head I thought, THIS IS A VACATION! I have so much energy I am going to go home and clean my house! 

Now hold up. I totally get you, I have also been a stay at home Mom..IT IS HARD WORK TOO! 

AND that my friends is the POINT. 

We are all working SO hard! What do you like when you work hard or do a job well done? Appreciation. A little appreciation goes A LONG way. 

I have received so many lotions, perfumes, chocolates, candles, hand made goodies, crafts, mugs, apple decorations, Pinterest teacher gift idea's, magnets, crayons glued into a frame with my initial, I have even received THREE really ugly purses over the years, ornaments...etc. Do you know what I do with all of those gifts? I wrap them up and have a white elephant gift exchange with my family. Seriously. I know this sounds awful, and I really do appreciate the thought its just....what would you do with a boat load of candles and weird smelling lotions, 15 ugly mugs with a hot chocolate packet, and teacher ornaments for your tree at home? 

All Time WORST Teacher gifts:

• A cork conglomeration ornament made by the student. #1 I don't drink wine, and it sort of grosses me out to have YOUR old wine corks melded into some ballish reindeerish ornament. 
• Magnets. My fridge is not magnetic. 
• Ornaments. Please, no ornaments. I know I am a #1 teacher, I work really hard to be one. 
• Teacher crafts you made. No thank you.
• Anything ceramic from the dollar store. 
• lotions, they make my skin itch...I can only use Cetaphil.
• Soaps...I can only use Dove
• Perfumes...I am picky about my scents
• Chocolates...I am always..ALWAYS on a diet. (Unless they are See's of course)
• MUGS/CUPS...no more, please. I HATE THOSE. ( Picture this..a little word problem for you. If a teacher gets and average of 10 cups or mugs a year, How many mugs will this teacher have in 5 years? 10years? 15 years?
• Jewelry

The WORST EVER Teacher gifts I have seen are these:

I did not receive them but have to giggle every time I think of this handful of special gifts. A teacher that worked next door to me DONATED a gift to my family white elephant gift exchange. I WISH I had a picture of it. In fact one of my cousins STILL has it to keep in white elephant rotation. It was a snowman made out of a sock. It was missing an eye and had these weird wiry arms. The kicker IS it was an OLD, GREY/BLACK, SMELLY, DIRTY USED SOCK. I am not kidding. Here you go, Thank you SO MUCH for being my teacher........here's an old dirty sock. 

The other was a red ceramic heart with a hand coming out of the top, and the hand had long nails. We weren't sure what it was supposed to do? Was it a trophy?

Let me let you in on a little secret...don't spend 20 hours making a craft. The $5.00 you spent to buy the stuff would have been perfect. In the form of a Target gift card...so I could...buy supplies for my classroom. I am not kidding. Save yourself gobs of hours. 

Let me make a little note here....I have the sweetest kids in my class AND parents. I have one Mom who knows I am weight conscious and she sends in a HEALTHY and delicious 100 calorie muffin whenever she makes them ( AND they are still WARM!!! YUM-O). She also makes the BEST cookies. Those things ARE appreciated. Homemade goodies from someone who knows how to cook...totally appreciated. However, if your just breaking the pans out once a year to bake and send in a rock hard brownie??? If you wouldn't eat it..why would your child's teacher? That says to me, here is a rock hard brownie...I hope it kills you on the way down the hatch..or at least gives you a gallbladder attack. 

Here are a few STELLAR GIFTS:

Low on cash this year?

• How about a nice, sincere, note of thanks...from you and your child?
• I have a friend who didn't have any money...but she did have food stamps. She made a delicious freezer meal the teacher could take home and use for a busy night!! WHAT A GRAND IDEA! Who wouldn't love one night of cooking off? 
• Baked goods are delicious, IF you can bake well..especially homemade wheat bread..yum...
• If you are going to buy chocolates..make it good chocolate..PLEASE. Ghirardelli or See's
• Set up a time to volunteer in the class

Instead of a mug, magnet, ornament, oven mitt, a $20 ugly purse...here are a few more idea's that made me REALLY feel special and appreciated. 

• I ALWAYS get my own children's teachers a pedicure gift card. 
• OK gift cards in general are amazing..truly that is the BEST gift. Some of my favorites have been to the grocery store, craft store, McDonald's..YES..that is 5 Diet Coke's BABY, pedicure, movie tickets, Harkins Popcorn T-shirt and movie cup, Cold Stone, Frost, Staples/Office Supply Store, Teacher Store, a favorite restaurant, a Visa gift card...so many choices! 
• I received a really beautiful neutral lip gloss by Christian Dior. Dior is my first name and the lip gloss was buttery and just lovely....and something I would NEVER buy myself. Cute and thoughtful.
• A book that correlates to one of our subjects that year...like Arizona, Electricity...etc.
• Classroom Supplies
• I love fresh flowers...always a winner. Plus, since I am single really the only time I get them is when I buy them myself..and I love them.

My point being here is just send a little love and appreciation to your teacher! Talk nicely about him/her in front of your children. Please, teach them it is important to respect us EVEN if we are not PERFECT. I bet you aren't either ;) and we are ALL doing our best! Please know, that we REALLY, TRULY love each and every student and their parents. We want a happy learning partnership with all three of us: teacher, parent, student. 

I hope this takes some pressure off. I have friends ask me every year what I think a good teacher gift would be. I hope this helps. 

-I am grateful for my children's lovely teachers! Seriously, they are the best. If I could fly them to Maui for a week I totally would. I hope at least they will enjoy the fake tropical surroundings of "My Nails" salon and the sound of warm water filling the foot tub. XOXO The Sunny D