Holiday tipping for parents: Who gets paid, and how much?

Mail carrier and teacher and dog walker, oh my!

By Motherly Updated Dec. 11, 2018

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Ah, the holidays—full of festive cheer, parties, mistletoe… and complete and utter confusion about how much to tip whom.

Remember: Tipping and giving gifts to the people that help you throughout the year is a great way to show your appreciation, but it’s never required. Ultimately, listen to your heart (and your budget) and decide what’s right for your family.

Here is our etiquette guide to tipping and gifting everyone on your list.

Teachers

You can decide if you’d like to do a class gift .

Ask people to contribute what they can, if they’d like to
Sign the gift from the entire class—don’t single out the people that weren’t able to contribute
Idea: a small gift and then a gift card bought with the rest of the money, and a card signed by all the children

…or a personal gift.

Amount/value is very up to you—you may factor in how many days/week your child is in school and how much you pay for tuition.
Anywhere from $5-$150 has been done.
Idea: a personalized tote bag and gift card, with a picture drawn by your child

Babysitters, nannies + au pairs

Up to one night’s pay for a babysitter
Up to one week’s pay for a nanny or au pair.
Homemade gift from the child

Daycare teachers

$25-70/teacher and a card from your child

School bus driver

A non-monetary gift of $10-$20 (i.e. a gift card)

Ballet teacher/soccer coach

Consider a group gift or personal gift (see teacher gift above)
Up to $20 value if doing a personal gift

Mail carrier

A gift up to a $20 value, but they are not allowed to receive cash or a gift card that can be exchanged for cash.

UPS/Fed Ex

A gift up to a $20 value, depending on the number of packages you get. Avoid cash if possible.

Sanitation workers

$10-30 each
Make sure you find out if the same people pick up the recycling and the trash—there may be two different teams to think about.

Cleaning person

Up to one week’s pay

Hair stylist

Up to the cost of one haircut/style

Dog walker

Up to one week’s pay

Doorman

$15-80 each depending on number of doormen

Boss/Co-workers

You are not required to give your boss a gift. In some instances, it may be inappropriate to do so—so you’ll have to think about what seems right for you
Never give cash
Consider giving an office gift—bring coffee or donuts to the office for everyone, buy an assortment of teas for the staff lounge, replace the microwave that everyone hates, etc
Organize an office Secret Santa—it’s a great way to boost morale and have fun, without needing to decide who to buy for. (Hint: We love Elftser for easy Secret Santa organizing!)