On the radio the other day the talk show hosts were talking about “when it’s ok to lie” one of the times they brought up “When someone makes you a gift you don’t really like.” This thought stuck with me. Often when I think of others that I want to give something to or that I want to thank, my mind first goes to something I can create for them. Don’t get me wrong, often there is the perfect thing for someone that I can buy from a local store or Amazon. That being said you can see my gratitude or caring when I don’t just give you something that is prepackaged. Yet with all of my good intention, time and effort I have seen the utter disappointment or the lack of use of in respect to that created gift. So even if you lie to me, I’ll probably figure out that you didn’t like the gift. Somehow that doesn’t stop me!

Today I was struck with the creative itch when I was questioning how to express gratitude. This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and my child goes to a great school with so many great teachers and staff members. Last year I gave small thank you gifts to her primary classroom teachers. A year later I have become more aware and realized that it is not just the three in her classroom that impact her day positively every day. I have come to realize that there are people in her school who I only know by sight who know her and make a difference in her day. I also know that they are supported by an even larger team. Some staff may never interact with my kiddo or me, yet they are an important part of the school community. Unfortunately, we do not have an endless supply of monetary resource to give something special to every single staff member this week. Yet I still want each one to know that they are appreciated.

Driving past my favorite art store I was drawn to go in and look at their extensive pen collection! I was able to come up with 60+ awesome pens that I thought were fun, functional and unusual. The challenge with a pile of pens is that by themselves, they really don’t say thank you. It’s as much about the presentation and the sentiment included as it it about the physical pen. For this I knew I could use some styrofoam and a note. After some experimenting, paper, paint and floral wire I had written a word I associate with teachers on each pen and built this funky pen holder:

I also added this note:

Hello “School” Staff,

Thank you for all you do for each and every student and family at “School”.

Please pick a pen that is fun or has a word you identify with as a small token of out gratitude.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

It’s silly and it lacks refinement, I would never expect to buy this in a store, yet I hope it says,” I appreciate you and in return I took my time and effort to create this for you.”

For me this was a gift of an opportunity to create something new and different that I had never made before. I got the chance to daydream and create. I might build it a bit differently if tasked to make the same thing again. Personally I really enjoyed the time I could give to creating something out of gratitude.

What happens if someone doesn’t really like this gift or thinks of the pen as a crappy thank you? Well it is likely they won’t take a pen or will take it and forget about it. Is that different than the cookie that another parent brought in? Not really.  In this particular situation I know that the 60+ staff members will have 60 different reactions to this gift. I hope many will take a pen and accept the gratitude I am trying to express.

As for myself, I will now watch and see what the reactions to this funky pen holder and its intentions are. Maybe next time I’ll go back to something off the shelf or maybe this will be a tiny bit of inspiration and experience that I will draw upon next time I feel the urge to show my gratitude.