Kinda Bummed :(

[MichellesKiddos]

For the kids' crafts this year we made hand print calendars for their parents. With all of my part time kids plus my own there was 8 of them Anyways, they turned out REALLY cute, we even wrapped them all up and sent them home for the parents to open on Christmas. I had spent well over a month working on this project with the kids (working on it a little bit each week). Out of all of my parents, only ONE has said something about them! I know the kids loved doing them and had a blast, but I have to say my feelings are kinda hurt..even though I know I shouldn't let it bother me. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing them next year..if they don't even appreciate something that CLEARLY took me a lot of time (my own time as well) to complete. OK, rant over. I'll put on my big girl panties and get back to my day Just wanted to vent to somebody who maybe knows or has experienced how I'm feeling. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

[daycare]

I know that a lot of us can relate to how you are feeling..Big hugs...

One word of advice, if you are going to do things from now on, do them for the kids only. Don't do it for the parents, do it because you love to see the kids having fun and learning.

I cant even tell you how many times I have done things for the parents and never even got a thank you at all...In fact I got complaints instead......

[WImom]

Sorry to hear that.

It's like that every year here. I stopped doing gifts that take along time on my part because of this. The kids still do something nice but easy.

[Lucy]

For the kids' crafts this year we made hand print calendars for their parents. With all of my part time kids plus my own there was 8 of them Anyways, they turned out REALLY cute, we even wrapped them all up and sent them home for the parents to open on Christmas. I had spent well over a month working on this project with the kids (working on it a little bit each week). Out of all of my parents, only ONE has said something about them! I know the kids loved doing them and had a blast, but I have to say my feelings are kinda hurt..even though I know I shouldn't let it bother me. I'm pretty sure I won't be doing them next year..if they don't even appreciate something that CLEARLY took me a lot of time (my own time as well) to complete. OK, rant over. I'll put on my big girl panties and get back to my day Just wanted to vent to somebody who maybe knows or has experienced how I'm feeling. Hope everyone had a great holiday!

We made an ornament with their picture in it that took days, and not one person said something about it. I spent $15 to make 5 of them. I asked the 8 yr old if Mom liked the ornament, and he said "Um, I'm not sure. I didn't see it." It does make me hurt a little, but whatever. I do it for the kids, right? That's what I keep telling myself. I don't know... I just think if it were me as the parent, I would make sure I said something to the Provider about it.

[snbauser]

I agree with the above. Don't do it for the parents, do it for the kids. I do a ton and out of the 11 parents maybe get 3 or 4 thanks/compliments when we send stuff home. The rest don't say a word. Last Mother's Day I did individual cd's of each kid set to music for the mom's. Each cd required about 60 pictures of just their kid, times 11 kids and that is a whole lot of pictures and time to create them. I only got maybe 3 comments from parents. I long ago gave up expecting any type of response. One of my teachers was upset that I only got about 4 thank you's for the Christmas gifts I bought the kids this year. I just kept telling her that I don't let it bother me. I was excited to see the kids faces when they opened them and that is all the thanks I needed.

[melskids]

I agree with the others. Anything you do..ever...is for the kids. Even if it gets tossed afterwards, know that they had fun and learned something while doing it. Thats all that matters.

[Kaddidle Care]

I bet most of the Daycare gifts are still in their cars. They'll get them eventually.

[CheekyChick]

I'm sorry.

People can be so rude.

[Ariana]

I'm sorry.

People can be so rude.

This I don't know why some parents treat their DCP's with such a lack of respect.

[Lucy]

We made an ornament with their picture in it that took days, and not one person said something about it. I spent $15 to make 5 of them. I asked the 8 yr old if Mom liked the ornament, and he said "Um, I'm not sure. I didn't see it." It does make me hurt a little, but whatever. I do it for the kids, right? That's what I keep telling myself. I don't know... I just think if it were me as the parent, I would make sure I said something to the Provider about it.

I quoted myself, LOL. I have to add to this. I asked one of the parents today, "Hey, did Susie give you that star ornament with the picture?" She goes "Uh.... yeah." I said "It actually ended up to be more work by my husband and me, but the kids DID pose for the picture and glue the noodles on!" I think I got a "huh" in response, but that was it.

Again, it's for the kids, but jeez. It really does make a statement when they don't show appreciation for anything. It says that I am expected to do these things, and that they aren't required to even acknowledge my extra efforts. Sigh..........

[Candyland]

Sadly, some parents are just too busy with their own lives to notice anything their child comes home with.
Other parents are thrilled with their child's work. happyface
If you haven't heard from the parent what they thought about their gift...like everyone has suggested...let it go...just do it for the kids if you choose to continue making these special moments. lovethis

[melskids]

I quoted myself, LOL. I have to add to this. I asked one of the parents today, "Hey, did Susie give you that star ornament with the picture?" She goes "Uh.... yeah." I said "It actually ended up to be more work by my husband and me, but the kids DID pose for the picture and glue the noodles on!" I think I got a "huh" in response, but that was it.

Again, it's for the kids, but jeez. It really does make a statement when they don't show appreciation for anything. It says that I am expected to do these things, and that they aren't required to even acknowledge my extra efforts. Sigh..........

This is exactly why I don't do cookie cutter crafts or parent pleasers.

But sometimes, when I get a parent who doesn't appreciate their childs work, I make sure to make a BIG deal about it at pick up time in front of the child...how beautiful it is, how hard they worked on it, etc. That way, the parent acknowleges it right then and there, in front of their child.

I will go on...and on...and on...and on about it. So my parents have learned pretty quickly that they better acknowledge their child first, before complaining about their own day or chatting on their cell phone.

[MichellesKiddos]

So at pick-up yesterday I mentioned something to one of the other parents, asking if the girls enjoyed their gifts. THEN she finally said something about the calendars (that she cried when she opened them and so on), I'm thinking OK, you have that type of reaction but it takes me prompting you to even say THANK YOU?..OH Well. I've come to the conclusion that the parents that don't say anything at all are just too wrapped up in their own things to even acknowledge all of the hard work that the kids and I put into these crafts. You guys are right though, I should do it for the kids and only the kids (not that I was doing it for the parents approval anyways). That was the first BIG project we had done since I've started, and I thought that most of the parents were pretty good about those things...guess I was wrong. Next time I'll try to not even expect a thank you...even though that's pretty hard Especially considering I've grown up with the attitude that if someone does something nice for you, its only common decency to say Thank You..apparently these parents don't feel the same, as crappy as that is.

[momma2girls]

Sorry to hear that.

It's like that every year here. I stopped doing gifts that take along time on my part because of this. The kids still do something nice but easy.

I am with you here. I used to do so much more starting at age 2, not anymore!!

[mismatchedsocks]

I feel your hurt. I am a big personalization person, because my name was not found when I was a kid, so I couldnt get a pencil with my name or anything. Now I have a lot of kids with Unusual names or spellings. I had to order their christmas presents and I know the kids loved them, but I even had to ask the kids "so did you open the present I got you?" they said yea, and loved it" but not so much as a word from parents. I will however start having the kids open them here before they go so I can see their face when they open it.