Cmas gifts - bus driver, dance teacher, etc.

[bas71873]

This is the first year I am having to do this, so what is appropriate for gift giving for the following?

Bus driver - he's an older gentleman, I'd say 60's. I was thinking a gift card ($10/$15) to Cracker Barrel or Panera Bread Co. and a small tin of some homemade cookies


3 dance teachers - same as above but maybe the gift card to either Target or the movies. It's 3 female teachers, all single gals.


Book Buddy - this is a high school girl that tutors my DD 2x/week in reading through the school (so it's a free service, I don't pay her already). I was thinking same as for the dance teachers?


Thoughts? Am I on the right track?

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Bus driver...gift card to a gas station. Do you guys have a QT there? We give those out a lot. Everybody goes to the gas station at some point.

 

[Darsa]

I have a hard time with my DD's dance teacher; she's taught by a VERY nice man in his mid 50's. I have NO idea, every year, what I should do for him. Usually ends up a gift card to Dunkin Donuts since I'm told that he's never without a coffee

 

[bas71873]

Bus driver...gift card to a gas station. Do you guys have a QT there? We give those out a lot. Everybody goes to the gas station at some point.

The county pays their gas, so he's not using his own $$ . No clue what a QT is . Care to share? Now I'm curious!

 

[bas71873]

I have a hard time with my DD's dance teacher; she's taught by a VERY nice man in his mid 50's. I have NO idea, every year, what I should do for him. Usually ends up a gift card to Dunkin Donuts since I'm told that he's never without a coffee

I only WISH we had a DD or a Krispy Kreme. I miss MY donut fix .

 

[C.Ann]

Something handmade by your DD.. It will mean a lot more to them and the gift is actually on her behalf..

Check out Oriental Trading for inexpensive craft ideas she could do..

 

[dumboiu]

Something handmade by your DD.. It will mean a lot more to them and the gift is actually on her behalf..

Check out Oriental Trading for inexpensive craft ideas she could do..

I have to disagree. I think a gift card to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble or a restaurant would be more useful. Maybe a nice handmade card to go with it though!

 

[pearlieq]

I have to disagree. I think a gift card to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble or a restaurant would be more useful. Maybe a nice handmade card to go with it though!

Agreed. Sorry to be unsentimental, but if I had the choice between a gift card and a foam reindeer craft, I know what I'd pick!

It's not that I wouldn't appreciate the child's effort, but I'd much prefer to be able to get a little treat for myself than to get one more thing to clutter up the house.

 

[C.Ann]

I have to disagree. I think a gift card to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble or a restaurant would be more useful. Maybe a nice handmade card to go with it though!

What some might consider useful, maybe - but I once worked as a school bus driver - as well as in a school cafeteria - and the handmade gifts were appreciated much more..

 

[The Mystery Machine]

The county pays their gas, so he's not using his own $$ . No clue what a QT is . Care to share? Now I'm curious!

It is a large gas station chain, QuikTrip or QT.

I am not saying you pay for the gas for the bus, but you get him a gas gift card for himself.

Do you a gas station chain that everybody goes into? We give those out alot for Christmas gifts.

 

[aprilgail2]

I have to disagree. I think a gift card to Starbucks, Barnes and Noble or a restaurant would be more useful. Maybe a nice handmade card to go with it though!

I agree- the last thing I need is another thing that someone has made. I would also steer clear of homemade cookies, most teachers, nurses etc I know that get those from families toss them out---never know how clean other peoples kitchens are!!

 

[wilderness01]

What some might consider useful, maybe - but I once worked as a school bus driver - as well as in a school cafeteria - and the handmade gifts were appreciated much more..

That's really sweet that you appreciated them, but personally I wouldn't. I have my own kids to get that from, my mom has her own grandkids, my uncle his own nieces and nephews, etc. I would never dream of having my kids make the bus driver a craft and having him keep it. I personally wouldn't know what to do with 120 homemade crafts other than to recycle them. Give the bus driver either a gift card to starbucks, some lotto tickets, a movie ticket,box of candy, carton of nice coffee, etc. It is for the bus driver to enjoy.

We have collected money as a group in our neighborhood and gotten the bus driver a bigger gift card that he very much appreciated.

 

[maslex]

Let me jump in here..LOL

I am a bus driver and every year I get a few gifts from the students. They are usually gift cards (to Dunkin Donuts or Bakers Dozen) which works for me (they're usually worth like $10. I DON'T drink coffee AT ALL, but I will go there one morning during Christmas break and get a dozen donuts for the family)

Other gifts that I have received have been.....candles, gloves (always come in handy on those cold winter days), boxes of candy, a coffee mug usually filled with coffee or cookies or candy, a gift basket full of stuff( same mom would get me these each year and it was filled with homemade banana bread, candies, a gift card and usually some type of plant or flower). But I would say my favorite gift so far was from a family last year (I had 3 siblings on my bus) they got me a Christmas ornament that was the front of a school bus and they personlized it with "Ms. Pam 2008". I almost forgot about it until I was decorating the tree yesterday and saw it.

 

[bas71873]

Thanks for all the scoop. Have lots to consider!

 

[RunDanceSkate]

I agree- the last thing I need is another thing that someone has made. I would also steer clear of homemade cookies, most teachers, nurses etc I know that get those from families toss them out---never know how clean other peoples kitchens are!!

Would you throw them out if you know that the person giving them was a professional pastry chef?

We are on a tight budget this year and I was going to do cookie boxes. I would be making them at home, but my kitchen is as clean as any hotel or convention centre kitchen that I have worked in.

 

[bas71873]

Would you throw them out if you know that the person giving them was a professional pastry chef?

We are on a tight budget this year and I was going to do cookie boxes. I would be making them at home, but my kitchen is as clean as any hotel or convention centre kitchen that I have worked in.

I wondered the same thing . I'm not a professional chef, but I LOVE to bake and try new things and my house is clean

 

[C.Ann]

Let me jump in here..LOL

I am a bus driver and every year I get a few gifts from the students. They are usually gift cards (to Dunkin Donuts or Bakers Dozen) which works for me (they're usually worth like $10. I DON'T drink coffee AT ALL, but I will go there one morning during Christmas break and get a dozen donuts for the family)

Other gifts that I have received have been.....candles, gloves (always come in handy on those cold winter days), boxes of candy, a coffee mug usually filled with coffee or cookies or candy, a gift basket full of stuff( same mom would get me these each year and it was filled with homemade banana bread, candies, a gift card and usually some type of plant or flower). But I would say my favorite gift so far was from a family last year (I had 3 siblings on my bus) they got me a Christmas ornament that was the front of a school bus and they personlized it with "Ms. Pam 2008". I almost forgot about it until I was decorating the tree yesterday and saw it.

My feelings exactly! I never got anything I would consider "junk" or just more "stuff" to have laying around.. Handmade Christmas ornaments and book marks were usually the norm.. I would no more toss out a handmade ornament from one of these kids than I would if it were made by my own kids or DGD - and unless a person doesn't read, bookmarks are always useful..