Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Christmas Thank Yous

I wanted to do something special and personal for the staff at Mom's assisted living center for the holidays.

I had so many ideas. A $15 gift certificate so the ladies could get a manicure/pedicure to pamper themselves; the same for the men to get a haircut.

I spoke with the administrator who said that cookies or doughnuts in the break room would be appreciated and sufficient. I didn't think that was enough. We tip our postal carriers, our paper delivery people, our hair dressers, our doormen — it just seemed right to tip the people whose hands my Mom's life is in. Believe me, they earn every penny.

The admin said there was 40 people total because I wanted to give something to each of them. My brother wasn't down with dropping $600 on the idea, so I starting thinking less expensive. What about a $5 gift certificate to the locally owned coffee shop for a latte and muffin? That would keep the money here and support the community. Along those lines, I also considered a peppermint pig which gets a lot of play in this area with commercials running on television.

After more consultation, I learned that many of the people that work there don't even have cars. Going to a coffee shop, while close, wasn't such a good idea after all.

In the end, I opted for tins of Danish cookies. They were $2 each and had a special holiday design on the top. Some had a reindeer, some a snowman, and others had a poinsettia.

Ho, ho, ho, I brought them in and the administrator said she'd be happy to hand them out when everyone came to pick up their checks on the 24th.

On the tags, I wrote:

To: Thank You
From: Evelyn D. and Sons

It all worked out well. They all received something individually as a show of thanks. Not a lot, but something nonetheless.

I know Mom would have thought of something similar if she was able.

3 comments:

Mom said...

When my mom was in the nursing home I bought pizza for each shift to enjoy with a thank you from mom. All the staff came by to thank her. I think knowing they were appreciated helped them to give mom just a little bit better care.

citygirl said...

Very nice of you! I did the same for my mom's home - bought a couple of giant boxes of chocolates to put in the staff area (which is off limits for residents so I know the chocolates wouldn't get "shopped" by a resident - hee hee). Taped a card on the front thanking them from my mom and family.

Camilla said...

I saw your blog for the first time today; thank you for sharing your thoughts.

One Christmas I gave mum's staff en angel each since they are "angels" taking care of mum.

My mother is soon 62, living at a home for the last 3 years with alzheimer. So I understand how you feel. I blog too, but it is all in Norwegian... Wish you all the best!