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[scheherazade]

I was really broke last year, but I feel guilty if I don't give a gift to my kids' teachers.  I usually bake insane amounts of cookies for Christmas, so I gave them bags of several different kinds of cookies with the recipes included.  All teachers absolutely loved the gift.

This reminds me--I REALLY need a good idea for my son's preschool teacher and FOUR wonderful aides.

(My SO and BF are elementary teachers, and they think candy/food is not a good teacher gift)

These professionals are so dramatically unervalued and underpaid. When I am better off financially, I will give these people large gift cards.

FWIW, last year when I did this, it was for two preschool teachers and an elementary teachers.  I understand that you wouldn't want to fight SO on this one, though.

[stitch]

FWIW - Among the elementary teachers I know, the favorite gift is a card handmade by the child.  After that, they would prefer classroom supplies or a gift card ($5 is absolutely appropriate) to Staples or Walmart or somewhere similar with which to purchase classroom supplies.

Actual gifts tend to fall into three categories:

Homemade food of unknown origin. Did the kid help? Did he wash his hands?

Chotske's they don't need and have to figure how to get rid of.

Personal gifts that make them uncomfortable due to cost or being too personal.

[zuzu_]

Perhaps small gift card is the way to go. At my son's former daycare, I gave the teachers small gift cards to the Tim Horton's (donut/coffee shop) across the street.

My BF worked as teacher in an affluent (Chicago-North Shore)district. She would get $50-$100 gift certificates to book stores and such. She did have small class (>8) with Special Ed kids, so her level of involvement with each child was greater than usual. To my knowledge, these gifts did not make her uncomfortable in the least.

My SO doesn't know what the heck to do with kid's handmade gifts. We still have random ornaments with strange children's pictures in our Christmas box.

I agree that homemade treats can be a little creepy, unless you know the person well. My brother (a middle school teacher) disposes of all such items prior to leaving for break. He is afraid of the old Ex-Lax trick I think.

[penguinator]

Yeah -- I think the fee is $79 a year. You have 30 days, so you could sign up on 12/01 and cancel after Christmas. I'm paying the $79 just because my partner and I have relatives at a distance, and we spend much more money than that in a given year shipping things. You can also spread the membership out to others in your household -- and possibly two friends or family members could share a membership and split the fee, as the items can be delivered anywhere.

3. If you would shop on amazon but avoid it because holiday shipping on there is unreliable, I would suggest doing the free trial membership of amazon prime, which means you get free two-day shipping on lots of items, including shipping to multiple addresses. So I can send my family members gifts all over the country w/no extra shipping charge.

Great tip. How does this work? Do you have to cancel your membership before they start charging you the fee?

[slac_vap]

In recent years we've started going more with "family to family" gifts, rather than individual gifts.  So, for instance, instead of buying four separate gifts for my brother's family (brother, sister-in-law, their son, and their daugther), we buy one gift.  Last year, we bought zoo memberships.  The cost was about $60 for the family membership, compared to spending $100+ if we'd have bought four different gifts, wrapped separately.  Plus, I know a portion of the cost goes to conservation efforts, and I think I could even claim a tax deduction on part of the cost if I were that tax-savvy.

[biomancer]

I've got a couple things to contribute:

(1)  My husband's family got so big, and the gift-buying was so out-of-control, that now instead of buying gifts for each other among the adults, the family pulls together charitable donations.  Each year one person picks the charity and has to put together a presentation justifying why the family should send money to that charity.  It's been a good gig to get involved in.  The kids still get presents, but the adults spend a lot less money shopping (we donate $25-50 per person) and get a tax deduction to boot!

(2)  My mom's family still exchanges gifts, but we run a Secret Santa, so that each person buys 1 gift instead of 30.  Yes, each core family still exchanges presents, but this way we're not buying for the horde and they're not all buying for us.

(3)  I also bake, and I reuse cookie tins every year - my family saves them after the holidays and gives them back to me to refill next year.  I buy my baking ingredients in bulk, and I also throw in some of my hand-dipped chocolate covered fruits - which are the biggest hit.  Last year I froze raspberries in the summer and made jam in December and gave everyone a jar with their cookies - that went over really well.

(4)  Homemade things are always appreciated - and if you plan in advance you can get good deals on your raw materials (buying holiday-themed cloth at the early January sales, for example).  And I too have a "presents" box in the closet that gets additions all year.

[undisciplined]

I usually give a pair of passes to the local movie theater chain. Last year I gave local, exotic handmade soaps to the three teachers and the bus driver.

[johnstevenson]

These all sound like great gift ideas. Thanks Zuzu!

[inthelab]

Being Jewish, I only give gifts to my lab assistant(s), students in lab, hair dressers, etc.  Last year everyone got Dale and Thomas popcorn.  The year before everyone got a pretty Hawai'ian ti plant (rooted and grown by moi) in Mexican Talavera pottery planters.  This year I'm thinking of doing the popcorn again, since it was such a big hit.

[daurousseau]

Call the university reference librarian. If the library uses EBSCO as its print journal vendor, then it recently got the annual holiday courtesy magazine discount offers to pass around. For example, you can give someone Atlantic Monthly for $8.50 instead of $30. The librarians can forward you the price list and order forms.

[prephd]

Call the university reference librarian. If the library uses EBSCO as its print journal vendor, then it recently got the annual holiday courtesy magazine discount offers to pass around. For example, you can give someone Atlantic Monthly for $8.50 instead of $30. The librarians can forward you the price list and order forms.

Ooh, which reminds me, last year I got a few people who I can never shop for (like my stepdad) these magazine gift certs. where the recipient can go online and choose the magazine s/he would like to receive (it's a year's subscription for $19.99). I attached these to a magazine I had seen them reading and wrapped them in newspaper. Cheap and easy, and the recipients loved them.

[zuzu_]

Another good gift for small children...especially those who have too much stuff already... bath toys

These things get gross and mildewy so fast that they are virtually disposable items. Throw in some kiddie bubble bath and you've got a great theme gift for under $10.

[undisciplined]

Bath toys: excellent idea! I always just ran them through the dishwasher when they got yucky.

[zuzu_]

Bath toys: excellent idea! I always just ran them through the dishwasher when they got yucky.

Yes--but the dishwasher destroys the foam-based ones, and the squirty toys are impossible to clean on the inside. I have one Elmo submarine that's been around for four years, but the rest are rotated out within months.

(Except the golf balls. My kids love to play with golf balls in the the tub--rolling them around the edge, holding them above the water and "plopping" them in, dumping them between plastic cups...)

[bibliothecula]

Bath toys? Well, I did get this once for a friend who collects rubber ducks and whose husband was on a year-long tour of South Korea: http://www.uncommongoods.com/item/item.jsp?source=family&itemId=12254.

She never did tell me if she used it....
:)