THank you notes | Imamother

ttbtbm

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 7:45 am

It probably depends on the gift. I got a bunch of $15 DD gift cards for various people. For that a thank you text would be more than fine. There are two teachers/therapists who have gone above and beyond and I got them somethjngnmore signifigant and spent a lot of time writing cards for them. For a gift like that a thank you text might not be appropriate. However, if they send me a thank you text I will chalk it up to everyone being super busy and overwhelmed with just making sure that everyone in their house having clean clothes and won't think badly of them.

amother

Amber ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 8:02 am

I write a thank you for every gift I get. I teach middle school, so I don't get as many as elementary, though. I keep a box of cards in my desk and write them as I get them and hand to the kid at the end of the period. If I can't do that, I mail it.

watergirl ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 8:15 am

When I was a teacher, I wrote personal thank yous to every parent who sent a gift. If it was a class gift, I wrote a letter to every parent still. Especially because I’ve been the parent before who couldn’t afford to go in on the class gift but my name was included on the card anyway, this was a wonderful way of helping me save face and not be embarrassed. I feel that the teacher didn’t know that I did not chip in.

Then I lived in a city for 5 years and sent out my thank yous, and the other teachers got upset with me because that is not something that the other teachers did and it made them look bad. Too bad, I sent my thank yous. Parents part with their hard earned money and often cant truly afford to. I myself have been bullied and shamed by more than one class mom to join the class gift when I couldnt afford to. Thank the family!

As a parent, if a teacher cant take the time to write a generic thank you letter and xerox it and stick it in each kids back pack, I am less likey to give at the end of the year. I feel like my gift was expected by the teacher, like “of course she gave a gift” as opposed to “oh wow how nice!”.

Always say thank you for a gift. A text is fine, just acknowledge it for goodness sake.

Raisin ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 8:21 am

I've never received a thank you note for a teachers gift, nor given one. Not even a text. And I give nice gifts that I can't afford because I think they deserve them. And it doesn't bother me at all!! These teachers are usually underpaid and often overworked, my gift is to thank the teachers!

amother

Olive

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 8:26 am

amother wrote:

If you receive thank you notes and/or small gifts from students parents, do you respond with a thank you... a note,phone call, email..???

My daughter's teachers have sent home printed notes thanking the parents for their thoughtful gifts and wishing them a happy chanukah.

notshanarishona

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 8:27 am

I have seen many teachers write a general thank you in the class note home.
Being that in most schools , the class together does something, to write 20-30 thank you notes for a $100 gift is a lot of time for the teacher.
If someone gives something more personal than being part of a class gift than I will try to give back a personal thank you.

LittleDucky ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 9:28 am

As a parent I would be upset not to get a thank you. If you can’t be bothered to write a thank you I might not be bothered to give a gift again.
I wrote them by hand (no text) for my wedding for even the “$18 gifts” or ones worth even less than that. Some got a phone call as well, depending on the relationship. I do the same now for gifts I get and for gifts given to my too young to write children. Every gift deserves a response. You have 30 kids in the class? Too bad About how much time it takes— you likely got 30 kids worth of gifts. The teacher that taught only 20 kids didn’t get as much most likely.
And generic letters that are photocopied for everyone is tacky. (Especially if not a class gift!!) Hand write the letter even if it is the same to all parents.
Us parents stretched ourselves to be able to give you something. Stretch yourself to hand write something back.

mommyhood

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 9:40 am

amother wrote:

My daughter's teachers have sent home printed notes thanking the parents for their thoughtful gifts and wishing them a happy chanukah.

Same. I think it's enough. I don't need a personalized thank you card for my personalized thank you gift.

↑ LittleDucky ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 12:07 pm

mommyhood wrote:

Same. I think it's enough. I don't need a personalized thank you card for my personalized thank you gift.

I am not saying it has to be personalized or on an actual card. But it annoys me when I spent money that I could have used for other needs and I get a photocopied letter without even them signing it. It could be the same letter you send each person but at make it seem like you appreciated the gift and didn’t expect it from the start.

seeker ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 12:26 pm

simcha2 wrote:

As a parent I would not be impressed by a thank you text.

As a millennial parent, I would be fine with that. The gift to the teacher is considered a thank you of sorts itself, so the acknowledgement for it can be more informal.

But as a teacher, I think texting individual parents would be highly inconvenient. In my experience the teachers either mass-produce a thank you note or put it on the homework sheet (for kids of the age to get homework sheets made by the teacher)

amother

↑ Amber

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 12:45 pm

Just another thing to think about... I write thank yous for every gift I receive, but I always give it directly to the student. As we all know, not everything makes it home at the end of the day Rolling Eyes

. So just because you didn't see a note doesn't mean the teacher didn't give one, unless your child is very organized or very young and everything is put directly into their bags. Smile

Optione

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 1:46 pm

As a teacher, I receive a Chanukah check that the PTA pooled from the parents.
I print a card that I typed but on the front handwrite "Mr. and Mrs. _____." Even though it's a printed card, they see that I didn't just stick 25 cards into 25 folders...

studying_torah

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 3:46 pm

You know how you always read that teachers love personalized thank u notes... well I did that for a few years, spent hours custom crafting elegant thank you cards (in addition to chipping in for the class gift) and neither was ever acknowledged. Even telling my child thank you , or a quick note written on the hmwk sheet would have been nice.
I stopped after a while, it was very hurtful tbh.

amother

Apricot ↓

Thu, Dec 14 2017, 4:39 pm

LittleDucky wrote:

I think wedding gifts are completely different then a gift/note to a teacher.
A wedding gift is given as a complete gift, not as a thank you for a service. A teacher teaches your child, the gift/note is thanking her for all she does for your child. It is in appreciation of something.
Lets say you use a caterer for a simcha, you send a thank you card after the simcha thanking them for the delicious food etc. Do you expect a thank you card back from them, thanking you for thanking them?