Teachers' Gifts

The end of the school year always sneaks up on me. I know it's coming, and then suddenly WHAM! it's here.

We've attended a lot of concerts, Carter's 5th Grade Musical (which was excellent), parades (both Taylor and Carter played in the band at a parade last night), and other year-end activities. And we are beat. Today is the last (half) day of school. While two of the boys were excited, the other two were dragging this morning. And fighting. I sure hope that's not a sign of what's to come this summer.

Anyway, I have been struggling with teachers' gifts again this year. With so many children in the same elementary school, it is hard to find a gift that hasn't already been gifted to the same teacher by a different child. And I'm fresh out of simple ideas to mass produce. We had ten female teachers this year (including the school nurse, Maureen). And I totally took the easy route: lavender (again) and chocolates. I seriously love lavender and love to give it to the teachers every year. This never changes. I know some teachers have gotten three, four, five (?) lavender plants from our family and I don't even care. It's a lovely perennial and, in my opinion, there is not enough in this world. Or in my flower beds. (And, because it's a perennial, it's a gift that keeps on giving.)

I bought two large bags of Ghirardelli chocolates at the wholesale club. I took some clear "party favor bags," cut a few inches off the top and stapled a little piece of folded scrapbook paper to the top.

And for the male teachers (Taylor's homeroom and Carter's band teacher), karate instructors, and bus drivers: giant chocolate bars. This, too, has been a tradition over the past few years. It's just a little "thank you."

This morning as soon as the boys crossed the street to board the bus, the bus driver turned off all of his flashing lights. I was standing at the corner with another mother when I noticed it. The bus stop is at a four-way intersection, and there was a car waiting to turn towards the bus and a car behind the bus, and the children were still in the street by the bus door. I couldn't believe he did that. Just two mornings ago he forgot to turn on the red flashers when he picked up the my kids. I didn't report him then because there were only two days left in the school year. Today, I reported him. I don't care if it's the last day. He messed with the wrong children's mother today. (And I told them about the incident two days ago.)