Hi Moms,
I am quitting my full time job and sticking to my part time/work from home positions.I am doing this so that I can raise my own children instead of paying someone to raise them for me =) I loved our sitter, but financially, it don't pay for me to work outside the home full time with childcare and gas expenses.
I want to make the sitter something special to give them on the boyz' last day there, something to remember them by, altho we will still see each other on occasion...there are two of them in the home and they have each played a very important role in taking care of my boyz the last two years.
I am not the most creative/artistic person, but I do have Some ideas.
I have paint that I used to put their handprints on flower pots for Mothers Day and I know I could do something like that.....
Thought I would get some ideas and thoughts from all of you before deciding what to do....next week is our last being apart for 10 hours a day and I can NOT wait to stay home esp. with #3 due in less than 4 weeks.
Thanks for any input you may give me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wanted to tell everyone what I came up with.....First of all THANK YOU VERY MUCH for all the replies and responses. You are ALL so creative and willing to help, I love you all!!!
I found some foam pretty colored picture frames at Wal-mart, I bought some foam glittered letters and shapes and we arranged them on the frame, just peel and stick =)
I then printed out colored piece of paper that said, "Thank You" and "For Taking Care of Us" and had the boys each hold one, took their picture and put that in the frame.
Today is their last day there and we gave them to them this morning and they LOVED the frames. They have hangers or magnets for the fridge. I was tickled when I found them, all in all, I think I spent 10-15 bucks on both frames and still have TONS of letters and shapes for future projects!!!!!!!!
Thanks again, feel free to use this idea, they turned out wonderful! =)
Someone gave to me a T-shirt with the hand prints of my grandkids on it with their names and ages. Why couldn't you do something like this with a saying about how much she meant to the boys?
Karen
It would be noce to give her a photo of her with the children to remember them by.
Get a digital photo and put the kids pictures in it......that would be nice..and easy...........
I agree with the idea of a scrapbook. You could buy a small one, 7 x7 or 8 x 8 size, and then it would go pretty quickly to get it done. You would only need 24 pictures, minus the pages that had the drawn pictures. Just have the boys draw more pictures if you need more space filled up. Doesn't have to be fancy. YOu could include pictures the boys have drawn for her, them writing their name would be fun. If you use a photo album, avoid the kind with magnetic pages, as pictures tend to become glued to them, and brown over time. Good luck!
My favorite gift which I receive each year from my kids is a photo calendar. Pictures of the kids, the grandkids, us together - it lasts all year and each month is a new surprise. You can buy blank calendars on line or at a craft store and just use your creativity. It makes a truly special gift.
When I was teaching, we used to make a gift for Mother's Day - at first I thought it was tacky, but could not come up with a better idea, and the response from the Mom's was so great, that I continued making it for many years. Get a cheap terracotta flower pot, and decorate it however the boys want, perhaps even with a few cropped pictures of the boys. Then take a few ball point pens, artificial flowers, and green floral tape (avail at any craft store). Bind the pen and the flower together with the floral tape, (leaving the point of the pen out of course). Fill the pot with dried beans, and put the pens/flowers in it. She can leave it by her phone or desk, and have a pen available when ever she needs it, and with the flower attached, you always return it to the right spot and they never get lost. I have had parents tell me 3-4 years later that they still use it every day and have such good memories of when their little one made it. Just a suggestion.
You could do a special photo album for them, a scap book, a small brag book of pictures, a special photo frame with the boys picyure, a wall hanging with pictures,or a collage frame with the boys pictures.
For Mother's Day I bought white dishtowels and white dish rags. Wash the towels first. We used matte fabric paint to put hand prints on them. I put my 6 year old son's hand print on the towel and My 2 year old daughter's hand print on the rag. The paint needs to set for at least 72 hours. I wrote their name and the year in the corner. The grandma's loved them. I also made a set for myself that hang on the oven door handle and I get compliments all the time on them. I too am not the most crafty person and this was pretty easy to do and the kids loved doing it. My mom bought a cute little basket to display hers.
One other thing I have done for gifts, is let the kids color and draw on plain white paper. I then use some of the paper as matting in a picture frame with a smaller photo tape onto the picture. I wrote their names and the date in the corner. It looked really cool. To do the coloring and drawing we used "wet chalk". I soaked colored chalk in 1/4 cup water and 6 tablespoons of sugar for 10 minutes. The texture looked really cool and the colors were real bright.
How about getting her a photo album and putting pictures of the kids in it? Or you could buy one of the premade scrapbook albums and put photos in it as well. Your two children (with your help) could write little letters about how much fun they had doing specific activities with them.
You could give them each a photo album of their time with your kids. Include pictures of them with your kids, just your kids, and even some of you and your husband. Ask a Creative Memories Consultant to teach you Power Layouts, and you'll have no problem getting them done in time. (If you don't have a Consultant, go to www.creativememories.com to locate one in your area.) While you're at it, ask about being a Creative Memories Consultant yourself. I've done it for 14 years, and have raised my kids on my income alone for the last 7 years. I'm playing and working at the same time. Congratulations on staying home with your kids. You'll never regret it!
Do you have pictures of your children with the sitter? If so, find one from when they first started together, and one more recent. Get a frame large enough to hold both matted, with enough space for the children to write their names and some little sentimental thing.
