Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Tiny Prints Appreciates Teachers

As a former teacher, I know how hard good teachers work.  They are generous with their time, energy, love, patience, and  money.  They love and care for each of the children in their classroom as if they were their own.  They spend hours, days, or even months trying to figure out how their children will best succeed.  Once they've figured it out, they provide their kids with the tools for success and help them to find their way on their own so that they can experience the joy of their achievements.  Some days they go home exhausted, frustrated, frazzled and at the end of their ropes.  Luckily, other days they go home smiling, laughing, energized and proud of what their kids have accomplished.

During my years as a student, I was blessed to have many amazing teachers.  They were the ones that challenged me the most.  My best teachers set the bar high, and expected me to not only meet, but exceed my goals.  It may have been difficult to make them proud, but when I did, I knew that I had really achieved something of significance.   While I don't know if I ever thanked them in person, I have thought of them with appreciation often.   Now, as a mom, I thank Peanut's and Pumpkin's teachers when I see that they are going above and beyond their "job" as a teacher.  I think that an expression of gratitude is the least I can do for someone that sees my child more than I do during the school day.

Apparently, I'm not the only one to show appreciation for teachers.  Several businesses provide discounts or even free products for teachers to make their lives just a little bit easier.  One of those businesses is Tiny Prints.
To honor teachers everywhere who are preparing for their school year, Tiny Prints has designed greeting cards to meet their needs. They can send each student a personalized welcome greeting card, connect with their student's parents with a thank you card and celebrate their students with award cards. In support of building a connection between teachers, students and parents, Tiny Prints is offering these personalized greeting cards for free starting Monday, August 2nd through October 31, 2010. Teachers will just need to apply the code: Apple2010 at checkout.
In addition, you can participate in a Tiny Prints Teacher Greeting Card Twitter Party with the tag #makeitpersonal this Wednesday from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. ET/1:00 to 2:00 p.m. PT.  This should be a great time to learn more about Tiny Prints and see what they have to offer.

*Disclaimer:  I received information for this post from Global Influence.  In exchange for posting about Tiny Prints and the Twitter Party I have an opportunity to win a Tiny Prints gift card.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

To Party or Not To Party . . . That is the Question

You can call me lazy, unkind, smart, frugal, crazy, or any number of things, but my girls are 4 and 5 and have never had an official birthday party. Don't get me wrong, we do get together with immediate family to celebrate the occasion, but we don't do themes, friends, giftbags, etc. Up until now I have never thought it was necessary. When the girls were younger, they wouldn't have known the difference. As they got a little older, I didn't want to set expectations for them that were too high. This year is the first year that I am considering it. With Peanut in Kindergarten, she now has friends that she sees all day every day . . . more often than she sees me! She has gotten invited to several parties and has now started to mention who she wants to invite to her party when she has one. She isn't assuming that she is going to have one this year (I asked), but she figures she'll have one eventually and wants to be prepared. (She's quite a little planner!) As Doc and I have begun to discuss the pros and cons of an event like this, we've remained undecided. Some of the thoughts we've had so far are:

Pros
  • Peanut is quite shy and a party where she is the guest of honor might be beneficial to her developing social skills.
  • It might be an easy way to meet some of her school friends and their parents.
  • If we give her a budget and let her make some of the plans it could help with her understanding of money and finances. Cost benefit analysis is important even at her age.
Cons
  • Stress - What if no one comes? What if everyone comes? Planning, prepping and supervising are never that easy.
  • Setting up expectations. If we do a bounce house this year will she expect an amusement park next time?
In terms of expectations, one thing that I think Doc and I agree on is the fact that a party will not be a yearly event. As a child I had a party with friends when I turned 10 and when I turned 16 - milestone years. I think that limiting parties to significant milestones is a good idea, but I also think that 6 could be a milestone year as well. This is her first year of school! :o) Luckily, we have until May to decide, but I am curious . . . What are your thoughts?