Christmas Gift Ponderings

Here is just something that has been on my mind for awhile and so I am just typing up something little about it for those of you who have kids in school. With Christmas coming up, there are a ton of gift-giving occasions and opportunities to spend a lot of money, which I know for me can be overwhelming. So, oftentimes, the default is to spend time and money and effort on family and friends and then find something little and pleasant for the "teacher gifts" category. But I am thinking that that does not seem right. These teachers pour into my children all day, every day. Honestly, they spend more waking hours with my children than I do, which makes me a little sad, but also makes me praise God that my children have FABULOUS teachers at their small Christian school. So it seems to me a wee bit ridiculous to say "hey, thanks for giving yourself to exhaustion for my children day in and day out, for teaching them about all things educational as well as (in my case) spiritual, and for generally making sure they stay alive, happy and well taken care of when they are away from home, so here is a box of cocoa mix." It just doesn't cut it for me, I guess. I am just thinking we can do better for our children's teachers (and I mean the main ones that spend the majority of their time with them, not every single staff member at the school, although wouldn't that be great too?? It is not like educators are rolling in money, people!!) and I am encouraging all of you readers who have kids in school to give it some thought, too. I am not even talking about spending large sums of money-for example, I knit them special stuff usually out of some sort of gorgeous yarn, and not the same gifts, each one gets something unique for them. This is not to "toot my horn", it is I guess in response to the plethora of stuff on the web I read about "Teacher Gifts Ideas!" that is a bookmark and a card, or a bag of candy, or whatever. Now, I know that for some, that is all you can give, and that is ok, I am certainly not judging anyone's economical status, and again, it is really not about how much money you spend at all. It is more about the time, thought, and effort you make. I just think these folks deserve the absolute best we can give them. They are shaping and educating our children, OUR most precious gift. If we entrust our most valuable thing to them all day, every day, shouldn't we express our gratitude in a way that really conveys how special and wonderful they are? Not sure if a "make your own cookies" jar does that--unless of course they are someone who LOVES cookies, then it is perfect! That is all I am saying I guess--take the time to put some thought into what would be a special gift for THAT teacher so they know they matter to you and your child. Just something to think about. Now I will step off my soap box to go re-vamp my gift list I think.....

PS-I am just a guilty of doing the quick and easy "teacher gift" so please don't feel judged, just thought I'd put it out there for other people to think on as well as myself!