Gifts teachers DON’T want

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, this thread makes me never want to give a teacher a gift. Many of you are extremely ungrateful. Nobody gives me gifts for doing my job. Perhaps the practice should end all together.

This. I’m more than happy to get teachers gifts, and just get gift cards, but the teachers that respond to this thread you sound terrible. I believe what you are supposed to do is say thank you for any gift and move on. If you don’t like it, donate it, but don’t talk poorly about the person who gave you something or start a thread about what you don’t want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, this thread makes me never want to give a teacher a gift. Many of you are extremely ungrateful. Nobody gives me gifts for doing my job. Perhaps the practice should end all together.

This. I’m more than happy to get teachers gifts, and just get gift cards, but the teachers that respond to this thread you sound terrible. I believe what you are supposed to do is say thank you for any gift and move on. If you don’t like it, donate it, but don’t talk poorly about the person who gave you something or start a thread about what you don’t want.

No kidding. Terrible.

[Anonymous]

I’m not a teacher and wouldn’t want all the hand made treats. Yes they’d go in the trash. My oldest is in middle school and we’ve always done gift cards. Years with many teachers means the GCs are smaller amounts, but we still stay away from anything smelly (lotions, candles, etc.), homemade “goodies,” or tchokes. Or give a handwritten note of appreciation.

This is an anonymous site, people give unpopular opinions, but I’d gather these are pretty indicative of how many teachers feel, especially those who have been teaching a while.

[Anonymous]

I was a teacher who loved homemade treats. I must admit that if your child is one of those who has a string of snot always hanging out his nose, it might be thrown in the trash, but if your child is fairly clean, I'd welcome it.

I had a friend, though, who threw everything away. Everything.

[Anonymous]

Interesting, I thought it was a thread started by someone who wanted to narrow down what to get for the teachers. Not by a teacher being ungrateful. Perspective I guess.

[Anonymous]

Please do not gift old dried up lotions. As for home made cookies, can you put them in a tin box or ask the kid not to put them I. The book bag. I have received so many bags of crumbs from children who have told me that they were perfectly fine before going inside the book bag.

[Anonymous]

As a specialist teacher, I am usually appreciative of anything... except cheap lotions that end up actually drying my hands out. Gift cards and notes from student are awesome.

As a parent, I have trouble drawing a line at where to stop giving gifts for all the adults that help my children. I can’t afford to even get $10 giftcards for all of them.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here. I really do love any gift. Please don’t pay attention to this thread. It’s definitely the thought that counts and if I don’t have a use for a gift, I can find someone who does. I love the notes most of all and I also like gifts that are a bit quirky. Even if a gift is not to my taste these gifts give me some more insight into my students and their families, and something to remember them by.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a specialist teacher, I am usually appreciative of anything... except cheap lotions that end up actually drying my hands out. Gift cards and notes from student are awesome.

As a parent, I have trouble drawing a line at where to stop giving gifts for all the adults that help my children. I can’t afford to even get $10 giftcards for all of them.

The money part is a big issue as we have a SN child who has multiple staff helping directly and indirectly. I'm doing gift cards for the 4 main and a small token gift for the rest. It still adds up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about homemade cookies and a card?

Maybe I’m paranoid but I throw out homemade food. I have no idea how clean someone else’s kitchen is, if they let cats walk on their counters, etc

No you aren’t paranoid. I don’t know a single teacher that will eat homemade gifts. They go in the trash. Always.

That's awful. You could at least pass them off to a senior citizen's home or homeless shelter. Sorry anyone wasted any time or effort on you.

I have worked at both senior citizen homes and homeless shelters. Neither of those accept homemade treats or food in opened packages. It is much too big of a liability.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a specialist teacher, I am usually appreciative of anything... except cheap lotions that end up actually drying my hands out. Gift cards and notes from student are awesome.

As a parent, I have trouble drawing a line at where to stop giving gifts for all the adults that help my children. I can’t afford to even get $10 giftcards for all of them.

The money part is a big issue as we have a SN child who has multiple staff helping directly and indirectly. I'm doing gift cards for the 4 main and a small token gift for the rest. It still adds up.

PP here. Yes, we have a SN preschooler and with the teachers, aids, therapists, bus drivers & aids... and then our ES age child’s teacher and bus driver (and he likes giving the specialists gifts, too), it just gets to be a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a specialist teacher, I am usually appreciative of anything... except cheap lotions that end up actually drying my hands out. Gift cards and notes from student are awesome.

As a parent, I have trouble drawing a line at where to stop giving gifts for all the adults that help my children. I can’t afford to even get $10 giftcards for all of them.

The money part is a big issue as we have a SN child who has multiple staff helping directly and indirectly. I'm doing gift cards for the 4 main and a small token gift for the rest. It still adds up.

PP here. Yes, we have a SN preschooler and with the teachers, aids, therapists, bus drivers & aids... and then our ES age child’s teacher and bus driver (and he likes giving the specialists gifts, too), it just gets to be a lot.

I wasn't even including the outside therapists. I drive my kid so that's a non-issue but there were two teachers, one student teacher and 3-4 aides and the teacher demanded that everyone get the same, so it really added up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about homemade cookies and a card?

Maybe I’m paranoid but I throw out homemade food. I have no idea how clean someone else’s kitchen is, if they let cats walk on their counters, etc

Not only this but those of us who work with kids know how dirty their hands usually are (we definitely ask them to wash or sanitize regularly at school!) so it can make us a little queasy when a student brings a gift of homemade food and proudly proclaims that they made it or helped make it themselves!

Because you always hear about teachers dying after eating homemade cookies

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about homemade cookies and a card?

Maybe I’m paranoid but I throw out homemade food. I have no idea how clean someone else’s kitchen is, if they let cats walk on their counters, etc

No you aren’t paranoid. I don’t know a single teacher that will eat homemade gifts. They go in the trash. Always.

That's awful. You could at least pass them off to a senior citizen's home or homeless shelter. Sorry anyone wasted any time or effort on you.

I have worked at both senior citizen homes and homeless shelters. Neither of those accept homemade treats or food in opened packages. It is much too big of a liability.

Omg, you know, if you go to a bakery and buy a cookie someone hand made that. A human being.
You are more likely to ‘catch something’ from some assembly line made trash as bacteria grows on the machinery and they are not often cleaned (apparently).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:what about homemade cookies and a card?

Maybe I’m paranoid but I throw out homemade food. I have no idea how clean someone else’s kitchen is, if they let cats walk on their counters, etc

I hope that you never eat in a restaurant. Because it isn't pretty!

Cats are very clean. Rodents and flies in restaurants? Not so clean.