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Needing help with US gift etiquette- we live in NW Arkansas if it matters...
1. Kids birthday parties. My twins have been invited to two 2nd birthday parties from kids in playschool (ie we are on nodding aquaintance with the parents, but do not know them well), one at a gym, the other at home. I assume it is normal to bring a present, but not food? Is about 7-10 dollars per child ok, or should I spend more on gifts?
2. Teacher's presents. It's teacher appreciation week the second week in May. In the playschool the kids are encouraged to draw a picture or write a letter to their teacher. I am sure gifts would be appreciated too though, or maybe even presumed? If so, how much does one spend? What about teacher's aides? In the playschool, the twins have one dedicated professional teacher, and then there are teacher's aides (students or older ladies) who are usually in the class, but tend to change/ hop between classes. There is one aide who little Will really loves, would it be ok to give her a present and not the other aides? Should the present be smaller than that for the teacher,or is it ok to be the same (was considering Starbucks presents or gift cards)?
Yes, take gifts to the birthday party, but not food. I try to spend around $10-$15 on a child's gift, but whatever you feel like you can afford.
I don't feel like gifts for teachers are necessary. I feel like a nice card is every bit as meaningful to them. My son's kindergarten class is drawing pictures, each child is bringing a single flower on a designated day, and the room mothers are collecting $5 from each student for a gift card.
I think you are right on with everything. Birthday parties: don't bring food, $7-10 is a great range (I think). However, if you live in a very upscale area, there may be different expectations.
Teacher Appreciation Week: I have found that the biggest question is whether to get a gift now or at the end of the year... I think Starbucks or small gift cards would be great and since the aides are revolving, I think just getting your son's favorite one a small gift would be okay (I think I have done that in the past, but I can't remember). Talk to another mom or two to find out what the tradition at that particular preschool is. You could just get a bouquet of flowers sent for everyone.
I do end of year teacher gifts as well and what I usually do is tuck a small gift card $5-10 to Starbucks (we have one in our local supermarket) into a thank you card with a handwritten note expressing my thanks for the year and I try to include something specific that the teacher has done to help my child grow and learn. We don't have class moms or anything like that to do a collection. At our previous private school we did but not in our current public school.
I don't know how your school is structured but our elem school office has a couple of admin workers, the principal, and the health aide, and the librarian can often be found there, along with the two custodians passing through throughout the day. I try to put together a basket of food (cookies, bagels, muffins, whatever) with a thank you note and give it to them the last week of school. Besides the fact that they are all nice people, it helps to have a good relationship with the school office and I think, like most other people, they like to hear that their work is appreciated.
I teach in a preschool and the teachers usually get some gifts/flowers/ etc during teacher appreaciration week and also at end o f year- many times classes go in together and get one gift card
Birthdays- do what you feel- a book is always nice- there is no amount of $ that's right or wrong!!
1. Kids birthday parties. My twins have been invited to two 2nd birthday parties from kids in playschool (ie we are on nodding aquaintance with the parents, but do not know them well), one at a gym, the other at home. I assume it is normal to bring a present, but not food? Is about 7-10 dollars per child ok, or should I spend more on gifts?
Since you know where one party is at you can go on the website and see about how much the party would cost. That should give you an idea of how much to spend. I went to a Build-A-Bear party once and I took a present a little more expensive than the party at a bounce house. $7-$10 seems cheap to me.
Where I live $15-$20 for a birthday gift is the norm. If you are bringing two kids the amount you spend should be doubled - At least that's what I have always followed and noticed others doing as well.
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