22 Holiday Gifts Teachers Really Don't Want
After Thanksgiving comes the inevitable holiday shopping season, and parents everywhere will be working hard to get everyone on the list covered. In addition to their loved ones and friends, perhaps also colleagues, parents are sure to put their kids' teachers on their gift list. After all, by the time winter break rolls around, educators have spent several months, day in and day out, with a child, and most definitely deserve a token of appreciation. But it can undoubtedly be challenging to find the perfect gift for teachers, who make such a difference in children's lives but are -- at least on a personal level -- somewhat strangers to most parents. The key is to find a gift that may be somewhat generic yet thoughtful and useful.
The perfect gift for educators shows just how much they're appreciated but doesn't cross the line into eyebrow-raising, overly personal or the kind of thing that is screaming to be thrown in the trash or re-gifted. True, that's quite a lot of boxes that need to be checked. And the thought of getting teachers something they're going to hate is definitely stressful.
Well, dear reader, here is a tiny stroke of luck. Teachers are more than happy to share the scoop on the things they'd rather not see wind up on their desks this year. Yes, these teachers are over-the-moon blissed out to be so appreciated by students and parents alike, but they're not exactly loving the copious number of strange, super-generic gifts that land on their desk year after year, like those collections of colorful, apple-scented hand sanitizer or lotions or apple-themed knickknacks.
To save parents the trouble of freaking out over the perfect teacher gift, CafeMom touched base with real educators to create a list of no-nos. Skip these 22 options that teachers really have no use for, and stick with gift cards -- for a local cafe or movie theater, a mani-pedi -- or even a sweet, thoughtful hand-written note.