Holiday gIfts for daycare teachers, gifts when kids move to next room

[Twin Mom]

Can those of you ladies who have your children in a daycare center tell me what you usually spend on holiday gifts for the teachers? I can't remember what I did last year and I need to start thinking about what I am going to do. I don't want to be too cheap but I don't want to go overboard either especially since my kids are in a room with 4 teachers now.

Also, did you give the teachers a gift after your child moved up to the next room? If so what did you do/spend? I kind of owe some of the teachers a gift and I'm figuring I can take care of it all during the holidays.

Thanks for your help ladies.

[steph2003]

There was a great post on this not too long ago...if you do a search you should be able to pull it. I'm in the same boat - have 3 teachers to buy for in my son's room & this is our first year doing this. I'm probably going to spend about $30 each because that is what I personally can afford this year. I haven't decided 100% on the gift. Lot of posters had great suggestions for gift certificates for different places (mani/pedi, Barnes & Noble, etc) - even bringing in lunch one day for the workers in that room (if that is allowed at the center)

I also live near a Williams Sonoma & they had some awesome bread mix packaged with some pumpkin butter that was yummy. So I thought about doing something like this as well...putting a small basket together with gourment treats from WS.

[TaChapm]

As a former teacher my average gift was a $50-100 gift certificate. I always thought it was too much and felt bad about it. Usually they were to the Gap, Crabtree and Evelyn, Spa, or a nice restaurant. Honestly my favorite thing was to get personal gifts from the children with their picture. One parent made me this really great card with a picture of the girl and wrote a really sweet personal letter. I still have it to this day but don't have many of the other gifts. It really meant so much to see it in writing how they appreciated the love and care I was giving their daughter. It was always the little things like picking up breakfast for us on occasion or bringing us lunch so we wouldn't have to eat daycare food that really made us feel appreciated.

Another thing to point out is that the parents didn't do the same thing for all the teachers. I was a lead teacher so I was in the room with the children all day but the other assistants might float around and only be in the room for an hour or two. They usually got a little less. It would have been really expensive for the parents to get everyone who came into the room to help out an expensive gift. I'm not sure how it works at your center but that was usually the case at ours.
HTH!
Tara
Mommy to Jackson 11-10-02
and Surprise! #2 EDD 6-28-05

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[iujen94]

Hi - I just got through dealing with this issue. My DS has a November birthday so he just moved into the one-year olds' room. Since he has been in the infant room all year, I didn't want to not get his teachers anything for Christmas, so I went ahead and gave them their presents early when he switched rooms. I made each of them a card with DS's picture on it and wrote them a note "from" DS, thanking them for taking such good care of him. He had a total of five teachers, one primary, two other teachers who are in his room all day but are not his primary teacher, and two floaters. I gave his primary teacher a $50 gift certificate to the mall and each of the other four $25 gift certificates. HTH!

[blnony]

Audrey just goes part-time to preschool and before that MDO; She's always had 2 teachers in a room with 8 babies/toddlers.
Last year and for an end of the year gift too, I get a nice thank you card and write a note thanking them all they do and taking such wonderful care of Audrey and put a little picture of her in there and put in a gift certificate, usually to a place that I know they can slurge on something for themselves that they normally wouldn't do. usually from a local speciatly shop.