Looking End of Year Gift Horses In the Mouth

This is the last week of school and so I've been busy trying to make sure that everything is ready before I lose my government-sponsored child-free time.

One of the tasks on my to-do list is the end of year gifts for teachers.  This is one area where things get exponential very quickly with a child with special needs.

Here is the list for Alex:
- 1 teacher
- 2 teacher's aides
- morning driver
- afternoon driver

Not to sound too Scottish here, but even at a relatively cheap $5 apiece, that starts adding up quickly.  And these have all been good people who deserve better than a junky something from the dollar store.  Every year I try to think of something nice but not too expensive, something which will remind them but not fill their house to overflowing. 

I'm actually fairly proud of myself this year.  We got the drivers gift cards for the local gas station.  And for the teacher and aids, I did up this:

 

 

The flowers are artificial but still nice looking.  Each vase has a photo of Alex and a little note saying "Thank you for helping me bloom - Alex M - 2013" in it.  (Cheesy, I know, but you can get away with cheese for kids.)

 

Each arrangement still cost under $5 for me to do, but it's a nice keepsake and the vases are a good enough quality to be reused.

 

I'm also proud of the gift I came up with for Nathan's teacher.  She is diabetic so the usual chocolate standby wouldn't work.  Instead, we gave her a nice bottle of nail polish.  Hopefully, she likes it.