What did you get your kid’s teacher for Christmas?
Spare a thought for teachers. They work hard. They take care of our snotty-nosed kids all day. They teach them all the things that we can’t/won’t/don’t understand. And by December they are up to their nipples in school concerts, nativity plays, and papier -mache glue. That shit gets EVERYWHERE.
It’s out of guilt, utter gratefulness, and the innocence of primary school that kids, or parents, will gift teacher’s a little something to say “Thank you. You’ve taught our small human things. You survived.” It’s a lovely thought.
Another thought at this time of year comes from the teachers. And it’s “How many scented candles will I get?
From Tiffany bracelets to 18 boxes of chocolates, this week on This Glorious Mess, a former primary-school teacher talks about the booty educators receive at this time of year.
Valentina Todoroska is a journalist who used to be a primary school teacher in a state school, and she says her gifts ranged from the bizarre to the brilliant.
“You get a lot of things from home. And a lot of things that the parents probably don’t know that you’re getting…”
Like one year, she received a packet of Jatz biscuits. Wrapped up. “I’m pretty sure they came straight out of the pantry.” she says.
The key? Act like it’s the greatest thing you’ve ever seen.
“You don’t really want to let them down, she says. “They come in and they’re so excited. They say, ‘This is what I really, really wanted to get you!'”
“You don’t want to unwrap it and think ‘Oh God, what have they given me?’ so you unwrap it and say ‘Oh my God! This is the best thing in the world! I love Jatz!'”
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Top Comments
The most unique gift you can give a teacher as a parent is to write them a letter or tell them (not just at Christmas) how much you appreciate all that they do for your child/ren. Recognition and praise are so much more encouraging, meaningful and memorable than a last-minute box of chocolates, cake of soap or bottle of wine which will all be rapidly consumed or wasted and forgotten. I am a better, more confident teacher because of the expression of gratitude and kind words from a small handful of parents during my ten years of teaching.
I realise waft I do is completely unimportant to society, but I just to enlighten the readers of your site not all teachers teach children some work in adult education, but I realise we don't actually work very hard and that our contribution to society is completely irrelevant!
Ok vent over!
I appreciate anyone working with kids deserves a medal, but you know we who teach at the end of the scale put a lot of effort into our jobs too, but so far no blogs on how awesome we are, how underpaid we are, and no grateful student buying us tennis bracelets either!