The month of July has now begun and the summer holidays are almost within reach! With this in mind, also looming is the age old dilemma of what to buy for the teacher…
Before I became a school mum, in those heady days when I was young, free, childless and single, I recall having the same discussion with my sister when her daughter was in reception.
It was Christmas time and she was ‘umming’ and ‘ahhing’ over a candle or a bottle of fizz. (I know, the good old days of simple pressies eh?) I think she opted for the candle in the end, but no thanks to me. I was too busy ranting about teachers getting unnecessary gifts and parents being pressured into buying them, when really they shouldn’t get anything at all.
“Who gives me a tip for my job?” I cried.
“Why don’t I get chocolates and candles and flowers and biscuits?”
No matter that I was a student working part time as a ‘kitchen porter’ (to those not in the know, that’s posh for ‘washer upper’) and was therefore not bound to be laden with seasonal gifts, but never mind that, it was the principle of the matter!
These days I have changed my stance somewhat. When my daughter started school, I did feel compelled to buy presents because I thought it cruel if she didn’t have something to give when everyone else was handing over sparkly bottle bags and home made Victoria sponges.
Then I decided that teachers did actually deserve a gift after realising what a tough gig it is being them. I mean, it’s a mountain of a man/woman who can teach 30 five year-olds to read and write and sit quietly on the carpet without so much as breaking a sweat. At that point I had to hold back from buying said teacher a holiday to the Bahamas, or a Porche, say. Never mind that I didn’t quite have the funds…
Now I think along the lines of simplicity. A nice note to say thank you and a token of our family’s collective appreciation. A little personalised paperweight, a pen, a compact mirror perhaps? Small, understated and thoughtful. I think any teacher would very much appreciate that, don’t you?