Thursday, December 11, 2008

The last gifts

The only gifts I need to get are for the boys' teachers and their helpers. I have cards for them and the bus drivers. But I need to get the gifts. I'd like to be the sort of person that gives meaningful handmade whatsits all done up in pretty bags with elaborate bows. The gift that says "she put a lot of thought & effort into this"

But I'm the sort of person who drops a gift card in a plain white envelope & maybe adds a small Whitman's sampler. The gift that says "oh she stopped at Wal Mart on her way here"

I don't mind being that person really. I think a gift card is appreciated by nearly everyone &  I know plenty of people who find meaningful handmade whatsits to be a bit of a burden (especially if they are not really to their taste. You have to keep them, they are handmade, but you don't really want them so you feel guilty)

Food used to be easy to give but now everyone is on a diet or allergic or only eating organic & locally produced things or avoiding certain things for a variety of ethical or moral reasons so you never know how it will be received. The only safe food to give is fresh spinach from your own backyard and darn it, I forgot to plant any in October.

I used to do 'movie night' bags for adults I don't know well. A movie rental card, some microwave popcorn & a big box of Goobers or M&Ms. Obviously the food is out. Our local, to the school, movie rental place is Movie Gallery but they are closing many of their stores & the next closest is over an hour from the school. Blockbuster is 40 minutes from the school in any direction, which is a bit inconvenient for borrowing & returning. If I knew where the teachers lived I'd feel better about giving the cards.

After considering all my options I think a Visa gift card is what is likely. Maybe I'll get all crafty & sew some bags out of Xmas fabric and put holiday wrapped candy in them.

Wait...the sewing machine is currently buried under a stack of papers & things and my craft table has various random electronic parts piled on it.

Maybe I'll buy some bags and put holiday wrapped candy in them.

Next year I'll remember to plant the spinach.

7 comments:

The Four Week Vegan said...

LOL! I never give crafty whatsits because I don't craft. I am sure they will appreciate whatever you give. I do thin gift cards are a safe choice, especially Visa (they will be around in a month and they are good lots of places). This will go in my one more reason to homeschool pile - I am really no good at this sort of gift giving.

JenEverAfter said...

Sounds perfect to me! Shopping and Chocolate! Now THAT'S a Merry Christmas!!!

Kresta said...

Here's what I'm doing for my kids' teachers (two teachers for each kid). I got some cute Christmas-y small metal pails at Target's dollar spot. And I got some pretzel rods and melting chocolate (milk and white). I'm going to dip the pretzel rods in the melted chocolate and then coat with Christmas-colored sprinkles, wrap it up in some saran wrap, tie up with a pretty ribbon in the pail with a card and call it a gift! Easy and affordable enough, but I think they will be cute!

Aunt Becky said...

Dude. If I were getting a gift from you (hint, hint) I'd be much happier with a gift card than something creepy that someone else picked out. Because you KNOW that those people get some mighty interesting things.

Anonymous said...

I wish I had the time to do the crafty stuff and I feel guilty not doing it. I love getting gift cards and wished more people would just give me that so I can enjoy going shopping after Christmas.

Anonymous said...

LOL at the spinach!

For my kids' teachers, I'm just doing Starbucks or Dunkin'Donuts gift cards. I'm one of THOSE moms too, I guess!

But people have told me that they really like those cards so I hope it's OK.

Anonymous said...

Hello!

I love giving, and getting gift cards. I know when I give them they're appreciated because they can buy whatever they want.

I came here from the Mom Bloggers Club: CC2!!! :)