Cash

I'd take a new iPad if I didn't have one.

Cash

Anonymous wrote:IMO, the whole advantage of a gift, as opposed to cash, is that it is something you think the recipient will appreciate and enjoy. Cash is always great, but a well chosen gift shows you know and appreciate the recipient as a person. That being said, I think this is impossible to generalize about based on any one persons preference.

But a gift from and employer to employee is very different from a gift between friends. I am the kind of nanny who is regularly referred to as "part of the family" by all previous and current employers, but I still am professional enough that I am not going on about things I want to buy or how much I need a new XYZ in front of my boss. My boss would not know what to get me, because she only sees the parts of my life that are relevant to work.