do you give a gift to your kids' school bus driver?

[Grumpy's Gal]

just curious. And what would be appropriate?

 

[UMTerp]

Yes, I usually give a small box of nice candy or cookies. I never know what to get her.

UMTerp

 

[lastminutemom]

Yes. And at the end of the school year, all the families whose kids ride the bus contribute $ for a nice end of the year gift --either cash or gift card.

 

[ampooh]

yep, I've done coffee/mugs and I've done cash. I must say the cash is the gift he talks about. (he is my mom's SO's brother)

 

[liznboys]

Yep, $5 gift card to Target in a cute bag with some candies.

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I'm headed to the See's Candy discount store in our area to buy about 20 of the little holiday boxes of candy to give to school teachers, bus drivers, religious ed teachers, Girl Scout leaders, paper boy, etc. They cost around $5 each and are a nice little treat. I'd like to do more, but my kids each have 6 different teachers (plus all the others mentioned above)...so it gets pretty spendy!

 

[budbeerlady]

We do, last year it was a nice candle. The year before was a tin of chocolates. This year I am doing honey, strawberry jelly and a nice loaf of organic bread from the natural foods store in a basket. (I usually spend $5-10 depending on the budget.)

 

[mtblujeans]

For years my kids had the most wonderful bus driver! We live in a rural area and they had to be bused into town to go to school. She was very sweet and caring of all the kids! Last year, my DS was sick but did not call me to come get him 'cause he didn't want to miss out on anything that day so he hung in there and rode the bus home. He had a fever and fell asleep on the bus. When he woke up, he had missed his stop and she back tracked several miles to get him home. She always gave all the kids on the bus Christmas candies on the last day of school before Christmas break.

This year the school district did away with our bus route and they transferred her to another route.

In the past, I have made up goodie bags of Bath & Body Works stuff, or cookbooks and recipe cards, or gift certificates, or candies and cookies, and we always gave her a Christmas card that the kids had signed. The last few years, the kids took a card on the bus and discretely (I hope) passed it around for all the kids to sign before giving it to her. She was a wonderful person to my kids and I always appreciated that.

 

[BeckyScott]

Our kids don't ride the bus anymore, but the youngest did for two years and yes, I gave her a gift.

In our situation, our son was attending a SpEd preschool and the bus also had an aide, both of them helped load and unload, etc, it was more work that most bus drivers. And I really liked both ladies, they would sing with the kids and the driver was a feisty one!

They both got McD's gift cards, lemme tell you those ladies could put away some coffee, so I know they'd use 'em up, McD's is right on the way to the Bus Barn.

 

[Kimmumum]

Our bus driver is male so I had a hard time but I finally got him a gift card to Dunkin Donuts. I figured even if he didn't drink coffee he could still get donuts. Most of the Dunkin Donuts are connected to Baskin Robbins also so he could get ice cream if he wanted too.

 

[PrincessMom98]

I know a few bus drivers and they really appreciate the gift cards, even if its just $5 to a local coffee place. Around here I think the favorite is Wawa convience stores.

 

[mvazul]

My grandparents are bus drivers. They have been for 50+ years. They have mugs coming out their noses. Also, they have so much chocolate by the end of the holidays that they end up giving it away. They really appreciate just a card or gift card.

HTH!

Michelle

 

[lisaross]

bus last year - mornings only and he was a nice guy i gave him lottery tickets (5.00 worth)

lisa

just curious. And what would be appropriate?

 

[roadtripper]

As a working mom, I really appreciate having a good bus driver and bus aide for DS. He is also on a w/c bus-- he needs to be loaded and unloaded, strapped in properly, etc, and they drop him off 2 days a week right at my school!

I give homemade truffles and Dunkin Donuts gift cards--not enough for the peace of mind I get from having them, that's for sure.

 

[buckler]

The families on my street all chip in $5 for a Home Depot gift card. I can tell by his reaction that he really appreciates it. He is a "Grumpy" sort of guy with a heart of gold hidden under a gruff demeanor. But we always get a smile out of him when we give him the gift card at the holidays and end of the year.

 

[Xcited4Disney]

I do. Last year I gave him a Coca-Cola tin filled with chocolate chip cookies. He was so appreciative! I don't think he got anything else if at all. He was still talking about it months later.

 

[bcbmom]

We always give a little something. Last year was a candle, this year chocolates & timmies $.

 

[mum4jenn]

What about the Lunch Ladies? They never get anything.

 

[ggeorgiagirl]

neither do the janitors...and they have a ROUGH job! They also are around the kids a lot more than parents realize!

*keep the bathroom clean
*clean up puke
*keep the classroom tidy
the list goes on and on!

 

[java]

Nope not this year. This year's driver comes when she wants and often comes early and leaves before the scheduled time so my kids are now having to get to the stop 15 minutes before their time and she may or may not be there. She is a big crank too. (although driving a bus would make me cranky too)

In the past we have given a gift of some kind- usually a target gift card- or a dunkin donuts card.