what to tip?

orangehills

So, my daycare is an in home- a woman and her mom. They are Jehova Witnesses, so they don't celebrate Christmas. But I still want to give them an end of the year tip, because you know, they are taking care of the most precious thing in the world, my baby! What is normal to tip? I was thinking $100, so they both would have $50, or they could split it however they want, or she (the daughter) could keep all $100 since she does most the work. Her prices are amazing, I'd be paying way more anywhere else, so I want to do something nice. What do you guys think? 

Erikan73

I think whatever you can afford to give them is very nice. I would put it in there in a form of payment that can be easily split. If you go for $100 maybe do $20 or $10 bills. And just find a nice thank you card.

orangehills

oh good call. i was going to add it to their weekly check, but now that i think of that, that is super impersonal LOL 

Xstatic3333

When I worked at a center, we tended to get gifts valued $25-$50,usually in gift card form.  I think the $100 gift is super sweet and appropriate, especially if you're getting a great deal!  

orangehills

@xstatic3333 so you think 100 total for the 2 of them is spot on then? I think I may do it in the form of either 2 50s in a thank you card..

Xstatic3333

orangehills said:

@xstatic3333 so you think 100 total for the 2 of them is spot on then? I think I may do it in the form of either 2 50s in a thank you card..

I think that sounds perfect!  And the card is a great idea, too.  Even though I've moved on from the field, I've still saved some heartfelt thank you cards from parents from my childcare days.  If the intention is that they each get $50, I might do two separate cards.  

kmurphy2131

Xstatic3333 said:

orangehills said:

@xstatic3333 so you think 100 total for the 2 of them is spot on then? I think I may do it in the form of either 2 50s in a thank you card..

I think that sounds perfect!  And the card is a great idea, too.  Even though I've moved on from the field, I've still saved some heartfelt thank you cards from parents from my childcare days.  If the intention is that they each get $50, I might do two separate cards.  

I would do that too, so that you could write a personal note for each of them too.  I use to work in a daycare, I was only in the classroom part-time but typically got $25, more from parents who I had a relationship with their child/them (people I babysat for, or worked with more than one of their kids).  So I think that for fulltime teachers $50 each is great.

orangehills

ok, so i want to give more to the main girl (the daughter) she does a lot more than her mom. but i know they'll know what each other got, coz they are mother/daughter! what do i do then? just give one more than the other? or put it in for both, and then they split?

kmurphy2131

orangehills said:

ok, so i want to give more to the main girl (the daughter) she does a lot more than her mom. but i know they'll know what each other got, coz they are mother/daughter! what do i do then? just give one more than the other? or put it in for both, and then they split?

I think it depends on how things are. Is she there full-time and her mom is there part-time? Is she the lead teacher and her mom is the assistant? If so, than I think do separate envelopes with separate amounts. If they have the same role/hours officially it might look bad to give one more than the other.  Personally, I would have to feel pretty comfortable that they truly have the role of one working more than the other AND that they both know it, before potentially getting into an awkward position.

I know when I worked in childcare other teachers got more than me.  Sometimes the same parent gave us different amounts, sometimes the full timer got something and I didn't.  Nothing seemed "wrong" to me about that because our roles were vastly different.

brij2006

We use a stay at home mom for care for our daughter.  She charges $500/month, so we're giving her $200 for Christmas.  We view her as an employee of ours, but she also treats our daughter like her own and we cherish her for it.  So we want to show our appreciation.  

When I nannied, I always received an additional months' salary.  But that was in Chicago with HCOL.  Not sure if that makes a difference. 

FWIW, we're spending $50 on each of our parents.  So our sitter is getting a bigger Christmas gift than any of our family members. ;-)

orangehills

I was originally thinking of just giving them an extra $160, which is what they charge per week.. then settled on $100, but now am rethinking.. now I don't know what to do. I barely ever see her mom, so I don't really know if they work equal or not. Which is why I just want to give it in one card thanking them both, and let them do what they want with it.

blondie42107

I give our in-home daycare a Christmas gift.  I feel odd sometimes about cash so we usually do a large Amazon gift card but we know they use Amazon so it's a win-win.  It's a couple - so they share it?  lol  Maybe she spends it on kindle books, I'm not sure.  

brij2006

orangehills said:

I was originally thinking of just giving them an extra $160, which is what they charge per week.. then settled on $100, but now am rethinking.. now I don't know what to do. I barely ever see her mom, so I don't really know if they work equal or not. Which is why I just want to give it in one card thanking them both, and let them do what they want with it.

That's what I would do.  Give it with a Thank You card and write a sweet message inside.  Letting them know how much you appreciate everything they do for your DD, etc.  

Mine is inside our Christmas card to her.  Her husband is a teacher, so he helps a lot in the afternoons, holidays, and all summer.  I know that him and DD are buddies when he's home, but I'm still addressing it to her since she's the sole provider.  

I will give it to her on Thursday evening when I pick up DD (my parents watch her on Fridays).  Originally I wanted to give it to her the last day I see her before Christmas, but my H made a good point that maybe it will help them out if they need some extra cash to get through the holiday.  So I'm giving it to her the week before.

orangehills

Yah, the more I think of it, I think I'll give it on Monday when I give her the check for the week. Since they don't celebrate Christmas, I can give it whenever. I'll do cash so she can split it with her mom easily, but I think I'll do an entire week's worth of pay since they are so affordable and I know it would help them out and they do a good job with my girly! Ok. Final decision. A week's worth of pay in cash, in 20s, in a generic thank you card lol