This is my 2 year old daughter's last week of daycare as next week I start working from home part time and get to stay home with her. Yipee!!!! :) We have an incredible daycare provider right now, and I would love to get her a good-bye present to give on my daughter's last day (Friday). My daughter will still go there on rare ocassion when I need help, so it's not good-bye for good, but I'd still like to get her a little something to say thank you for the awesome care she's provided for my daughter for the last couple of years. I need ideas! I'd like to not spend a fortune, and have it be something meaningful from my family. Any suggestions???
wow congrats to you for being able to work from home (my ultimate goal)! I love this poem called by A Mother's Thank-You by Genie Graceline. You can go to amazon and do a search for it if the link below doesn't work...
http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Touching-Double-matted-Wa...
I just had a great family leave my home childcare after 3 years with me. When the boys father was deployed to Iraq for a year, his mom started a new "tradition" with her son (he was just about to turn 2 when dad left). Mom and son went on "dates" Little boy sooo looked forward to these and was special time for him and Mommy to have Milkshakes (and dinosaur chicken nuggets for him! LOL). When dad returned they started to let him in on their new tradition and tried more places.....OK there is my long winded backstory!
So when he left my care, I got a lovely plant, a card I will keep in my childcare scrapbook with personal messages about the time spent together and what it meant to their family to have me involved in their lives...and inside the envelope was a HUGE selection of gift cards to the boys favorite "date" places! Most were $15 cards...the ice cream place, the movie theater, a few restaurants, the book store, etc. It was a fantastic gift and I look forward to hitting up all the local places and stimulating the economy!!!
The collection of lovely cards with those heart felt words are the best things from all my years, however. Its hard to keep every framed thing and mug and doo-dad with so many kids in 13 years now....but I have a nice binder I can put sleeves into with a few photos and some of the cards I saved from each family.
I have spoken to a number of teachers/care providers that say that BEST gifts are those that are done by the child (pictures, thank you notes, etc). That said, supplying a framed work of art with an inset photo of your child might work wonderfully (we did this for our day care provider and she still has my daughter's up on her wall and we left there over 3 years ago).
Along with that, you might throw in something small to pamper the care provider. Maybe a gift certificate for a manicure, pedicure and/or facial or a gift certificate for Caribou (if she likes coffee) or a favorite restaurant or movie tickets. Given that she has taken care of your daughter so well, something for her to use to 'take care of herself' might be nice.
Something small with sentimental value along with a gift card to somewhere you know she goes like Target where she has a broad choice of what to buy would probably be really appreciated. The problem with restaurant cards and certain stores is that you don't know if her tastes are the same as yours. Even when people think they know your tastes they can go wrong. I often receive gift cards to book stores as I am an avid reader. What people don't know is that I don't like to accumulate books. I prefer to borrow them from the library. In the case of someone you pay for a service a cash gift is not unheard of as well.
We had a teacher leave my sons daycare to start her own. Another mom and I bought a terra cotta flower pot and paint at Michaels. We had our sons put their handprints on the side and wrote "you helped us grow." You can then either put a plant inside or add seeds and a few little gardening tools. She loved it and shows how much she is appreciated as she takes on new kids.
I am an in home child care provider and have been overwhelmed with the gifts people give me. Some favorites: gift certificate for a bed and breakfast for me and my hubby, Cricut machine for crafting, spa gift card, Barnes and Noble gift card attached to a fantastic book, baking supplies, restaurant gift cards with a promise to babysit my kids for the evening. A handwritten Thank you note and a hug go a long way, too!
Dana had great ideas. I love to get, therefore I love to give, the willow tree figurenes. You can get them at hallmark. They are lovely and each one has a meaning. Plus they don't cost a ton, usually $10-15. Congrats on getting to keep your little one at home with you
When I taught gymnastics, my students gave me tons of presents when I left to return to college. It was so kind and so generous, but I was unable to take most with me and gave them to my mom.
As a parent now, with 2 kids in day care, we tend to do things that are sentimental. We'll get a cheap acrylic/magnetic picture frame, write their name with a paint pen, date, put a picture of them mounted on some cute scrapbook paper (especially if there's a cute picture from their time there at day care).
Unfortunately, as time passes, you remember faces more than names, so I think having both is worth the cheese factor.
However, depending on your relationship, I'd either also extend an invitation to join you and your child for lunch one day or provide a gift card to a local restaurant with your sentimental gift.
Good luck! Hope you enjoy your new schedule.
