Teacher Gifts...

I was at Chapter's last week, buying teacher's gifts for the girls' teachers, and I came across this.  Peanut Butter Cup Gourmet Popcorn.  Now this is the type of gift I would love to receive if I were a teacher.  The girls have 4 teachers between the 2 of them, and there were 4 flavours of gourmet popcorn, so it seemed like a perfect fit!  I picked up a container of Peanut Butter Cup, Bacon and Cheddar, Cookies and Cream, and Twix Gourmet Popcorn and skipped along to the cash, more than pleased with myself for finding what was sure to be the talk of the staff room.  I had found the perfect teacher's gift.  But, while at the cash, I wondered if the girls' teacher's shared my love of popcorn.  Would they drool over caramel popcorn drizzled with peanut butter and chocolate, or are they more traditional, liking just butter and salt?  Is it possible that they don't even like popcorn?  This got me thinking, what is the perfect teacher gift?  I decided to consult the experts, and have created for you a list of the best and worst teacher gifts.  You're welcome.

First, the Best list...

1) Gift Cards.  This was one gift that all my teacher friends picked for the best list.  They suggest Tim Horton's, Starbucks, and the LCBO.  One of my teacher friends received quite a few Cineplex gift cards at the end of last year, and, lucky for me, I've benefited from these gift cards on quite a few occasions.  We actually just saw Chef, have you seen it?  It's a great movie.  But...back to the list...

2) Alcohol.  This one surprised me, but, then when I gave it some more thought, it doesn't.  I actually think this would be a good gift to give in September, you know, like carb loading before a big race.  Not that I have ever run a big race, but I have carb loaded.  Anyway...the tip with this gift is that while alcohol is good, homemade wine is bad.

3) Flowers or Potted Plants.  Seems simple enough.  I like this one.

5) School Supplies.  Items like note pads, pens, markers.  This one is good if you're short on time and don't have a chance to go shopping.  If you work in an office, you'll find most of these items in the supply room. Another suggestion was a book for the classroom, with an inscription, "To Miss V's class.  From Little Bear".

5) Home baking, Chocolate, Candy.  This, like the gourmet popcorn, would be my choice if I were a teacher.

And now, for the worst list...

1) Cheesy Teacher Crap.  I've never given any cheesy teacher crap to the girls' teachers, but I know I gave a whole lot of cheesy teacher crap when I was in school.  You know, big red apple magnets that say "World's Best Teacher", things like that.

2) Soap and Hand Cream.  My teacher friends said that while the idea might be nice, it's way too over done.  I can appreciate that.  I have a cupboard full of hand creams I received as Christmas gifts when I used to work in an office.  A cupboard full of Christmas bonuses I do not have, but I do have enough hand cream to last me the rest of my life.

3) Candles.  Crap.  I gave candles to the girls' teachers at Christmas.

4) Mugs.  Crap.  I gave mugs last year.  But, they were full of amazing chocolate, which was on the best list, so that sort of cancels out the mugs, right?

5) Clothes.  Wait, what?  Clothes?  I would never think to give clothes, but my experts say they have received them, and they don't like it.  And you can't argue with that.

I hope this list finds you before you hit the stores, and makes teacher gift shopping a little easier for you.  Incidentally, I went with Chapter's gift cards for this year's end-of-school gifts.  Oh, and I did buy the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Gourmet Popcorn.  For myself.  And I started eating it in the car on the way home.  And it was amazing...