Ann Marie over at A Mama’s Rant is having a contest for the Worst Present Ever. Here is my entry. If you have a present that you think could beat hers (used nail clippers), then visit her and find out how to enter.
When you are a teacher, when Christmas rolls around you can be the recipient of any number of various and sundry holiday gifts. For many years I was employed at a very affluent private school teaching first grade, and when Christmas came you pretty much hit the jackpot. Not that I think teacher gifts are necessary, but truthfully, they are so appreciated. And these people? They see teacher gifts as a “gratuity” of sorts, and give generously just as they would tip any other service profession like a hairdresser, nail tech, mailman, etc. Plus most of them just have money to burn. The gifts might run anywhere from hundred dollar gift cards to the mall, or restaurants, expensive bottles of wine or champagne, jewelry and many times just plain old cash.
Last year, there was a sweet little boy from an extremely wealthy family in my class. We’ll call him Jonathan. He was precious, but had several learning issues that required much patience and nurturing on my part to help him through. His mother, however, was not nearly as sweet. The year had begun on the wrong foot for her because the kindergarten teacher had placed him in my class and she had had her heart set on a different first grade teacher for her son. No matter how much the K teacher tried to explain that her son would fit best with my teaching style, this woman could not accept it. And I was the one who paid for it all year, even though I had done absolutely nothing wrong to this woman or her son. She wanted what she wanted, and that was that.
So the last day before the holiday break arrives and the kids bustle into school, arms laden with gifts for their teachers. After the children leave for the day I began to check out the pile when I find one medium sized rectangular box that hinted of a box of chocolates. Yum. It was from Jonathan. I unwrapped the package and removed the lid from the box and there was indeed candy inside.
But about eight of them were missing and the box had then been rewrapped in saran wrap, recovered, wrapped and sent to school! Clearly this mom’s way of showing me, yet again how she felt about me.
Yes, it was a little insulting, but I really knew that deep down this gift had nothing to do with me. It had everything to do with this woman and how she felt inside. Not about how she felt about me. And so I shrugged it off, but we laugh about that gift as probably the worst gift ever to this day.
