Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Teacher Appreciation Gifts

I know Teacher Appreciation Day was at the beginning of this month, but as the school year winds to a close, I am again reminded of those choice souls that choose to teach our children for us. Especially so in my case. Miss A and I do not work well together on learning activities, so I will be eternally grateful to each teacher she has, that teaches her, so I don't have to. You won't find me home schooling, no sir, no way, no how. Mr. B, on the other hand, I might consider...but, I digress.

Choice souls, yes. They are amazing. I thought I might be a teacher at one point in my life. Well, at many points in my life, starting with kindergarten, and my wonderful teacher, Debbie Hadley. There were two brief stages, one where I wanted to be an astronaut, but what kid didn't? And the other where I wanted to be a marine biologist. Again, what kid, especially girl, didn't want to play with dolphins all day. But always, always there was teacher in the background. So, when I went to college, it was quite easy for me to declare a major. Then after my first semester, when I had thoroughly screwed up my GPA (who knew that you actually had to study in college, whereas in high school you didn't have to?), I thought I wouldn't be able to get into the elementary education at my university (it was a very competitive program). But I did get in. And I was stoked! I couldn't believe it! My dream of becoming a teacher was coming true. Until one day it came crashing down around me. Turns out I wasn't well-suited to teaching. I failed my second pracitcuum twice. I finally passed it the third time around, but by then I was disillusioned with the teaching thing. I didn't want my own classroom. I wanted to teach science and social studies in someone else's classroom. So I never did my student teaching, and I never became certified to teach. Which brings me back to the people that are actually doing it. Teaching, that is.

And so, that brings me to my next point. Teachers can be very underappreciated. Not because of my child, or even yours, right? It's that other kid, you know the one I'm talking about, right? Anyway, in Miss A's class there are quite a few of those other kids, partly because they are at school for 6.5 hours a day, and they are either in preschool or kindergarten, and that's a long time for such a little kid. And, even though, as a room mom (did you know that I'm crazy?), the class made her a huge card, and chipped in on a gift card for Teacher Appreciation Day, I still feel like the amazingly wonderful Jessica Hill deserves more appreciation. Plus, sadly, she won't be coming back to our little school next year, so I really want her to know how much she rocks, and this is where the topic of the post finally comes. Teacher Appreciation Gifts.

I don't know of any teachers that want coffee mugs. I've never heard of it. And some teachers don't want homemade goodies (because, let's be honest, if your little dear helped, there just might be a few "special" ingredients). And most don't want another candle, and some are really particular about lotion (heck, I know I am!), so really, where does that leave us? Well, cash speaks, that's for sure. And gift cards (as long as they like the store), and lots of them like books for the classroom library, but really, these teachers need to stop being martyrs, and they deserve something exclusively for them. So, we gave Mrs. Hill a gift card already. And a hand written note and card at Christmas time (which, by the way, hand written notes are also a great gift), but I want to do something I haven't done yet. So, I'm going to make her a sugar scrub. It's not lotion, so I'm not going to be too cliche here, but her hands are sure to appreciate it in the warm, dry climate that is Eastern Idaho. Ya gotta love those high altitude deserts! Now, I personally haven't tried the scrub yet, but I should. My hands got a sunburn a few weeks ago, and the skin is starting to flake. Not peel, no, it seems my skin is too stubborn for that now (though I used to peel when I was a kid), but flake. And it's annoying. So, if I can manage to peel (hehe) my butt off this here couch, I might go make me a scrub, and see how lovely my hands feel afterwards. I've seen quite a few "recipes" floating around the blogosphere, so when I settle on one, I will update the blog with a new post. I know I promised you a post about it in the last post, but I tend to procrastinate, and get lazy, and read my children books (sometimes, though the Dear wins the book reading award for today), and help them clean the play room, and empty the dishwasher, and make food, and, and, and. I think you get the idea. So anywho, stay tuned!

Leslie

2 comments:

Rebecca Robison said...

Leslie, you are so kind. And- I'm sure you would make a great teacher because you are a great mother.
:)

dacjohns said...

You are doing good. And I admire how you think of others and make the gift appropriate to the person. You are special. :)