How does one "show" appreciation for their child's care takers?

• My children go to a day care where the parents rotate responsibilities to show 'appreciation' for their child's care takers. Intent is to do something 'special' to express (however remotely we can demonstrate the scale of appreciation) how much we appreciate our care takers/teachers. These appreciation days rotate on a bi-weekly basis in my infant son's room and I have this Friday. The class has three teachers and their charges are all kiddies age 6-12 months. (continued...) Guidance we've received is that the "appreciation" can be something as simple as bringing in some cookies, chips (in essence, a small token) or something slightly more elaborate (multi-tiered cake, flowers, balloons, dancing unicorns, talking bears, celebrity visits, fireworks, and so on). The scope of appreciation for that week is up to the parent who has responsibility for that week. Now, I have an out of whack altruistic nature so I'd lean more towards the dancing unicorn and fireworks angle. I really like the teachers and want to do something appropriate. What's an appropriate gesture?

• Answer:

  First, allow me to echo the statement that the folks at these places make very little money; our kids' school just lost an awesome teacher who loves our kids, and who our kids love, because she just finally ran out of cash. Granted, tokens of appreciation wouldn't have changed her financial situation, but if you can keep a great teacher around with such activity, it's worth it. So I gave this a lot of thought, based in large part on my own experiences at our day care facilities in the last year and a half, and I don't have a one-off gift to suggest. However, I did want to suggest something for everyday use, as it will help them feel appreciated without a contrived, rotational system (and so will be of use to people other than yourself as well): Every day, spend a few minutes talking to the teachers, not only about your kids, but about them. My wife (and me, to a much lesser extent) have personal relationships with our kids' teachers, because that's just the way we are. They confide quite a bit in us, and it turns out that one of the shared pet peeves among the teachers is the sheer number of parents who come, get their kids, and leave, without so much as acknowledging the teachers! They genuinely appreciate your recognizition that they're people, and that they're an important part of your child's life (and so a relationship with you on a personal level is critical.) After all, they see your kids as much as you do in many cases, and they're acting in your stead; it's much easier for them (and better for your kids!) if they know you're all on the same page, and that they can let you know about things that went wrong without fear of an unpredictable response. You know what? I just thought of an answer for your question, specifically, basesn on what I just said: do whatever you end up doing for your turn "on shift", but then at some point in the near future, bring them a token gift when it's NOT your shift. THAT will let them know they're appreciated even when it's not a mandated appreciative gesture, and so it'll mean ten times as much.