First Day of School + Teacher Gift

Yesterday was the boys first day of school.  They both did well and seemed to have enjoyed their day.  It started off a little rough with Maddox crying at drop off, but he calmed down and did well, according to his teachers.  The boys’ teachers are great and I think it’s going to be a good year. 

I prepped well the night before, so the morning actually was quite a breeze.  I woke the boys up earlier than normal around 7:30, ate breakfast while B watched a show, got dressed, and took some pictures.  I’m a sucker for first day of school pictures. 

I learned a great lesson this year – Take first day of school pictures AFTER school.  We are not morning people around here and “the sun is too bright” at every angle of our house in the morning.  Therefore, I got much better pictures from Beckham in the afternoon.  Maddox had no idea what was going on and just kept running around trying to pick up leaves.

I am all about a first day of school teacher gift.  I personally know that teachers do not expect a gift on the first day, but it’s the least I can do as I hand over my most precious gift for them to take care of.  Plus, one of my children (I won’t name names) is very “active” and a gift is my “thanks you so much.”  

I came across this idea on Pinterest the other day and thought it was really cute.  It involved getting 2 small gift cards and chocolate.  Altogether, they have 4 teachers, so I didn’t want to get 2 gift cards each.  I decided to change it to Chocolate, Caffeine, and Candied Popcorn to lessen the cost. 

Each gift costs less than $7.50 a teacher.  I already had the jars and made (and printed) the tags.  I bought a large bag of popcorn for $7.00, a bag of chocolate for $4.00, and four $5.00 Starbucks gift cards ($20.00).  Totaling $30 (I rounded up on each cost).  Divided by 4 teachers and that’s $7.50 each.

I thought they turned out pretty cute and the teachers were very appreciative.  I love gifting teachers and you really can get affordable things that they are so thankful for.  Teachers don’t expect much and any act of thankfulness is appreciated!  My friend baked my mom’s banana bread in small mason jars for her child’s teachers.  Super inexpensive and not only thoughtful, but yummy!

I’m praying specifically for Beckham this year.  My prayer is that he shows kindness and really grasps the concept of sharing. 🙂  He’s a sweet kid, but still might not be over the “only child” syndrome.  He’s a leader by nature and has a strong personality and I want him to lead his classmates positively.  I see his sweetness at home, and when he gets around other kids, his energy triples and he gets a bit too excited sometimes.  Love these boys so much!