If you expect something about color coordination in art or fashion, you're wrong, sorry. This is just another post about memories which is inspired by a post written by Nicole from Huisvlijt, "Kringloop Tristesse".
I don't speak Dutch, but from the Firefox translation I get it's about a water can that a school class gave to a teacher and it ended up in a thrift shop still with that tag on.
No idea how it is in other countries, but in my time gifts for teachers were not a big thing, at least not in my school. So I asked a teacher I know how it is today, and he too said that it happens, but not often.
We had one teacher, however, who got several gifts from part of the class, and that was a running joke.
One of my classmates loved the color purple and wore it a lot and said teacher didn't like purple. I don't know what the exact reason was, but he once told my classmate jokingly that purple wasn't a color, but a punishment.
So of course our whole row decided to give him something purple. My friend was a former baker's daughter and good at baking herself - how I loved her Christmas cookies! - and suggested a marble cake, but with purple and pink food dye. It was a big hit (I have no idea if our teacher ate any of it, though).
Anyhow, from then on, he always got something purple at the end of the school year. Nothing big of course, just to keep the joke alive, and we always tried to make it something useful or consumable, so it wouldn't take up unnecessary space.
One year, another teacher said jokingly how much we "spoiled" him (they had become a couple although we didn't know it yet at the time) and another friend of mine told her to pick a color. She said green. That friend did macrame and knitted socks like crazy - it was the 80s and a lot of pupils knitted in class - so she made a beautiful pair of green socks as a Christmas gift, much to our teacher's surprise but also delight.
So from then on we had to get something purple and something green.
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| Picture by Konevi via pxhere |
I even kept the tradition running for several years after leaving school. A lot of my school friends left town to work elsewhere or study, but I lived at home during training as a librarian and my teachers didn't live far from me.
One time, my teacher handed me a little parcel saying "ok, so sometimes purple can be beautiful if it's on the right thing".
It was a framed picture of a purple Porsche (he had a vintage one himself, not purple but red). I don't know if I still have that picture somewhere, but I remember it really made me laugh back then.
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| Picture by Alex Ifti via Unsplash |
So yeah, that's my little story of an "apple for the teacher".
Is it common for children to give their teachers a gift where you are?
I love a good running joke! That sounds so much fun. Of course, I love purple, and that purple Porsche is beautiful. As far as gift giving to teachers in the US, I think it may depend on where you live. I can remember my mom bringing home Christmas gifts when we lived in a small town in Kansas, but I don’t recall it happening when we lived in California.
ReplyDeleteYes, an amazing color on that car, isn't it?
DeleteThank you for sharing your or rather your mom's experience!
When my kids were small I often included a small sussie for the teacher along with whatever they were bringing for the classroom. Once they hit middle and high school - nope.
ReplyDeleteInteresting, thank you for sharing!
DeleteIt’s very common to give gifts in my state so I’m going to assume it is in others. In fact, around the holidays and end of school years, items are marketed as teacher gifts. I received lots of teacher mugs. The best was one year when a mom collected money and got me a gift certificate to my favorite store. I have a friend who teaches in an affluent area and routinely gets $100 gift cards to stores. But, I love this story! I was sure you were going to say your friend knitted both a pair of green and purple striped socks for each!
ReplyDeletehttps://marshainthemiddle.com/
Oh wow, that really sounds a lot different from here! I don't think teachers would even be allowed to accept that much.
DeleteI think she figured that our teacher would actually wear the green socks while the other one would definitely not wear the purple or green. She was a fast knitter, but it's still a lot of work for something that isn't used.
Purple and green 💚...beautiful. Happy Valentines Day 💝 💓 💖
ReplyDeleteThank you, I hope you had a happy one, too!
DeleteWe do give gifts here but I don't remember giving my teacher's them very often. I love that you all had this little fun joke going on and had so much fun with it for so long.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Lisa!
DeleteWhen I was young, we didn't give the teacher any presents either.
ReplyDeleteWe did give the class a treat, and especially the teacher on your birthday.
Colors, like taste, are very personal. Hans
That's interesting, thank you for stopping by and sharing!
DeleteYou are absolutely right about colors.
Since purple is one of my favorite colors, your post caught my eye. :) My daughter was an elementary school teacher and received gifts from her students, so now she's very intentional about gifts she gives her son's teachers.
ReplyDeletePurple Porsches for us all!
DeleteIt's good if you have some experience in what will work and what won't. Giving gifts isn't always easy. Thank you for sharing, Lisa.
That is a lovely tradition
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI can't really remember we bought gifts for our teachers. But now it's become customary for each student to buy something small. Instead of each buying something small, I prefer the idea of giving something together (as a group). The anecdotes you've written here are fantastic, especially because it's not about "buying something," but about giving a feeling, a pleasant memory.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to hear how it is and was in different countries and during different times.
DeleteThank you! I think that's the way we felt about it, too.
You totally got the story right Cat. It was indeed about a watering can that was gifted to a teacher, and she had donated it to a thrift shop with the tag still attached. 'When I was young,' there was no such thing as a parting gift for a teacher. We just shook their hand and expressed our gratitude : )
ReplyDeleteI think we even did that only individually with our favorite teachers!
DeleteIt's common for kids in the UK to give teachers presents. It wasn't when I was at school. I remember buying, with another girl, some apple bath products for a teacher we really liked, when we were about 10. But that's the only gifting that ever went on. It's funny how so many people dislike purple.
ReplyDeleteIf you had known my teacher, you wouldn't have been surprised. His style was very rustic, purple didn't fit in well 😉
DeleteWhat a fun read for my Friday morning! I don't remember giving presents to teacher as a child in France. It is definitely more of a thing here in the US.
ReplyDeletewww.chezmireillefashiontravelmom.com
Thank you for sharing your experience in yet another country, Mireille!
DeleteIt wasn't typical when I was a kid, but when I worked at a school in the early 2000s, kids did give gifts. It seems like gifts are necessary here for every staff member you come in contact with!
ReplyDeleteHow funny that it developed that way, thank you, Erin!
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