When I walked Olga yesterday morning, this was the view over the nearby tennis club. Looks a bit chilly, not to mention slippery, eh?
Well, I made it. Winter break has officially begun. No school for the next THREE WEEKS! Woo hoo!
Unfortunately I do need to go back to the building to print out the instructions for our dog sitter, because I forgot to do it yesterday. We have a printer/scanner here at home but we never use it for printing because I refuse to pay a bazillion dollars for the ink cartridges, and we use it so infrequently. I just scan with it and print at school. I'll do it on Monday and it will give me an excuse for a walk.
It's not like the instructions for Olga are very complicated -- basically just opening a can of dog food in the evening and taking her on a walk twice a day. But once you start writing instructions it can be hard to know when to stop. I found myself explaining how to work the TV, the washing machine, the dishwasher, when to water all the plants and how to water the orchids. I went on for THREE PAGES! She's going to think I'm a lunatic control freak.
At school, I got some little treats for Christmas -- a box of chocolate from a student, some candies from my boss, some shortbread cookies from a co-worker. Dave, being a teacher rather than a mere librarian, got a much better haul -- two bottles of wine, some chocolate truffles, some funky socks (in the aesthetic, not olfactory, sense) and other stuff.
When you were in school, did you take presents to your teachers at the holidays? I never did, and I don't remember my friends doing it either. Perhaps in public school USA in the '70s it wasn't as common. Then again, there is that stereotype of giving the teacher an apple, and that must go back to the time of Laura Ingalls Wilder. Maybe I was just an oblivious, ungrateful brat. That seems entirely possible.
This year I've backed away from gift-giving entirely. Even Dave and I aren't buying anything for each other. It's a wonderful feeling.
The Russians are still pounding away upstairs on whatever endless renovation they're doing now. When I came home from work yesterday there were black bags of debris piled in the parking space outside the front of the house -- old boards, plywood and a bunch of other stuff. We hear them hammering sometimes while we're watching TV in the evenings. I hope the dog sitter doesn't freak out about the noise. We've learned to block it out but it might bother her. As long as she doesn't charge us a noise premium!
Like you I am prone to put lots of information if someone stays without us here. My partner tells me not too. No, I say. They need to know that they have to push the body of the stick vacuum cleaner up and then swing it out from its charging point. If the just try to pull it out, they might break it. When we recently stayed at my sister's on our own, I worked out how to get their stick vacuum cleaner off the wall without breaking it. I think my partner is right, less is more.
ReplyDeleteBut you better add a mention of the noise from above to your note for the dog sitter. I would.
I think that your dog sitter will be grateful for your comprehensive information . Certainly for the TV......the set I watch in the front room has 3 different " zappers" to switch it on and the one in the other room is completely different to switch on. ( a cupboard door has to be opened before you can even begin!!)
ReplyDeleteJust wondering why you can't just write the instructions for the dog sitter Steve?
ReplyDeleteBriony
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I hope you mention in your notes the noise from the Russians is nothing to worry about in case the sitter is alarmed that it may be something untoward. I went to school a bit before you and there was no present or card giving to teachers. I remember when it started to come in in the UK and being horrified at the thought of it and that the pupil/teacher relationship had somehow stepped over a boundary that it shouldn't have done.
ReplyDeleteAs soon as The Russians see you heading off for Florida, the noise will cease until you return. One of the sweetest presents I remember receiving as a teacher was at Christmastime 1978. A boy from the pit village called Alan Morton gave me a pack of mono-graphed handkerchiefs. He knew my initials were N.T. but they didn't have any N's left in the shop so he got me T's instead! It was always nice when pupils and their families presented me with Xmas gifts in gratitude for my diligence and endeavours - going the extra mile.
ReplyDeleteMy father was a primary school headteacher before me and at Christmastime 1950 he was given a whole pig by a local farmer and parent.
I taught for a year at a private school and was amazed at all the gifts I got at the end of the school year. I didn't know it was a thing. But I'm pretty sure it doesn't happen in public schools.
ReplyDeleteI think you can come off sane by handing handing her the essential instructions and then handing her the three page missive with words that if something else is needed, you can read through here and maybe find what you are looking for.
ReplyDeleteI gave my elementary (public school) teachers gifts when I was little. But I think it was phased out once we got to junior high and started having lots of teachers. If I recall, we gave them either a fruit basket or a bottle of honey from the farm. If I could go back in time, I would have given some of them a better gift because it turned out they were fundamental in my life.
I think teachers need the wine on breaks!
ReplyDeleteYup. I need to print out the info sheet for our house watcher for when we’re in Florida.
ReplyDeleteAnd every year I use a Christmas mug a student gave me (I can still picture her) and hang an ornament from a high school student.
I don't ever remember my teachers getting gifts.
ReplyDeleteWe did indeed get our teachers gifts. They were horrible tacky things but we thought they would love them. When my kids were in elementary school, I started baking a loaf of challah for each of their teachers and gave them those with jars of nice preserves. I think they all appreciated that. I look back now and think, "Lord. I did that TOO?" No wonder I am completely over Christmas.
ReplyDeleteI, too, write out long lists of instructions for my house sitters. Once you get started, it's hard to stop.
Enjoy your three weeks off. I used to hate leaving Murphy when I was away and it is one of the reasons I'm pausing before I get another dog. Since I have 148 students, I tend to get a fair amount of gifts for the holiday season, but this year not so much, which is okay. I did get a $100 gift card to Amazon from an 8th grader (I teach 6th and 7th). His mother wrote me a very touching card thanking me for teaching all three of her kids. The oldest is in college. Her note actually means more to me than the gift card! Enjoy your holiday, and safe travels to Florida.
ReplyDeleteI can't recall taking my teachers gifts but I suppose it is possible and I've just forgotten. My mom would have given me something to take if I did. Those instructions will come in handy. When I've sat at people's houses, I always rely on the instructions for everything.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever seen any of the renos that the Russians have done?
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful holiday!
It is good for the dog sitter to have all of that info.
ReplyDeleteI tried to give a usable gift to my kids' teachers - usually something edible, I think. When I worked in school libraries, I did get gifts from time to time and I always thought it was so sweet!
Enjoy your break - it will zoom by!
Um, Steve, have you considered that maybe you are a bit of a control freak? I think I did give my teacher a present but more likely end of the year and probably only in elementary school. I get my printer ink online at inkjets.com. It's really cheap and the cartridges work fine though I have to convince my printer that it's OK to use them. Yes, proceed.
ReplyDeleteOh wow I had forgotten that my parents would buy a gift for our teachers when my sibs and I were in elementary school. A nice little box of chocolates. Sweet memory.
ReplyDeleteI actually have a copy of instructions I would leave for our cat sitter when Roger and I would go out of town and we still had our little kitty cat Bonsai. Another sweet memory. Thank you for that.
When I first started teaching (1958) many kids gave you gifts. I think the custom has died out. Now it seems like it's only band teachers who get gifts.
ReplyDeleteI remember picking out gifts for my girls' elementary school teachers but not in junior high or high school. That's too many of them! However, they/we may have gifted baked goods. As a high school teacher, I would get quite a haul: Sbux cards, mugs, candies, baked stuff, etc. We're not doing presents either except to the little ones (my grandsons) and it's such a relief!
ReplyDeleteI can’t believe how incessant the Russian‘s construction projects are. That could drive a person crazy.
ReplyDeleteI never brought gifts for my teachers. It was never even discussed. I wonder if other kids did. My mother wouldn’t have considered it, although she gave money to the mailman every year. It was apparently against the law for a federal worker to accept gifts. But those who didn’t give him money received terrible service from then on, while my mother got their free samples.
I applaud your informational document for the dog sitter. Every appliance is different, and takes awhile to figure out. When we sold the Tucson house I left instructions on how to know when it's time to drain the hot water heater (listen for small exploding noises when the dishwasher is running) and how to raise and lower the motorized shades without ripping them off hitting the sliding door handles. News you can use.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember taking gifts for my teachers either, though that was long ago and my memory isn't what it used to be. As for the Russians, could they be constructing some kind of missile launching platform? I'd keep an eye on them if I were you. Happy vacation!
ReplyDeleteI think I gave my teachers a gift when I was in elementary school (60s), but not beyond that. When my kids were in school they always gave their teachers, bus drivers, and principals little bags of those Hidden Valley Ranch seasoned oyster crackers. Everyone LOVED them and expected them! (small, rural public school) I have friends (including my postman) who STILL love to get those crackers each year! It's a tradition!
ReplyDeleteHave you peeked inside any of the black garbage bags the Russians have put out, to make sure it's just debris from their renovation?
P.S. Surely Dave will share his wine and chocolates with you!
ReplyDeleteMy mom was a teacher and got gifts from some kids each year, usually at the end of the year, though. I can't recall giving my teachers any gifts (now I'm wondering why, and thinking it might be because my mother realized teachers get inundated with well-meaning but space-consuming trinkets!!), but when my kids went to elementary school we always gave some small thing as a thank you. It was only one gift because they didn't start having subject teachers (seven each year) until high school. The gift was more from us, the parents, than the kids; I wrote a note with each one to express our appreciation. I tried to make it specific, like the year our son had a split Gr 2/3 class and many parents got upset but I thought the teacher did a great job (also I was biased toward the benefits of multiple grades in a room because I went to a two-room, 7-grade school myself).
ReplyDeleteYou could probably predict I'd write petsitters the same kind of instructions you do just from reading my too-long comments :D Once I even took photos of canned food in the cat dish because it was hard to describe how much to put in, for the amount of time I said to put it in the microwave. I thought a visual might be better! I truly think your sitter will appreciate it. It's always better to have too much information than not enough. I like Ed's suggested approach too.
We've been in several holiday accommodations (Airbnb etc) in recent weeks and seriously, I wish there were better instructions. Every place, we ended up googling instructions for microwaves, tumble dryers, children's locks on whatnots and so on. So, well done!
ReplyDeleteInstructions are good. She doesn't have to read them all, but if she has a question about the washer, for instance, she'll scan until she gets to that block of instruction. She may have no questions at all. In which case, she won't even bother reading your instruction manual. It's all good.
ReplyDeleteAre the Russians rebuilding their entire apartment?
ReplyDeleteI never gave gifts to teachers, it just wasn't done when I was in school, although the rich kids did bring a small gift, just to show off I guess.
I agree you should put a note about the noise upstairs in your instructions, maybe leave a pair of brand new ear plugs too.
As a parent, I often gave gifts to my children's teachers, especially when they had been particularly good to and for my child. My kids had great teachers overall, with only one or two notable exceptions.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember bringing gifts to the teacher -- but hey, that was a long time ago. Most of what I remember from that period was not being picked till last for kickball, wearing corrective shoes and loving spelling, writing and reading and hating math! I've tapered on gifts with a lot of people but for some it's a hard departure. My favorite gifts to get are for our annual Christmas song exchange with friends -- we pick a Christmas song, put a price limit and everything is related to the song in some way. This year it's Santa Baby which is ridiculously hard. I have decided I will be very liberal and "checks" may end up as a box of chex mix.
ReplyDeleteI tried to remember if we ever gave gifts to teachers and my daughter sternly reminded me that German schools openly disapprove of individual presents from students. The word she used was "bribe" but then she works in politics. In fact most schools seem to have a no- gift policy outside events like Xmas celebrations where the whole class would organise a gift to teachers.
ReplyDeleteAt graduation it can be a different matter.