‘No more mugs!’ Teacher’s Christmas gift rant divides parents

A Cape Town teacher’s post asking parents to stop buying mugs, glasses and “oh so heavenly sets” as gifts has caused an uproar in a popular parenting Facebook group, with hundreds of parents and fellow teachers weighing in.

The anonymous teacher wrote: “Please stop buying your kids’ teachers mugs, cups, glasses, oh so heavenly sets. Our cupboards are overflowing! My favourite gift was a Canal Walk voucher, that way I could buy whatever I wanted during festive.”

The post, shared on the Mamahood Cape Town group, quickly drew strong reactions, some accusing the teacher of being “ungrateful” and “entitled,” while others said she was simply being honest about a common issue.

One commenter wrote: “You already get paid a salary for doing your job. Parents aren’t entitled to buy you anything. With school fees, uniforms and everything else, this is just tone-deaf.”

Another said the teacher “should be grateful for anything given, even if it’s a small token,” adding that “it’s the thought that counts - not the price tag.”

A fellow teacher commented that the post left her “disgusted and disappointed,” saying her most cherished gifts were handwritten cards from her students.

“I have a box full of them and I love looking back to see how my learners have grown. That’s the best gift for me,” she said.

Some users, however, came to the teacher’s defence, suggesting her message was misunderstood.

“She could have worded it better, but I get her point,” one parent said. “Sometimes parents just want ideas for useful gifts and a voucher might actually be more practical.”

Others echoed that sentiment, saying they could “understand how a teacher might get overwhelmed with dozens of mugs every year,” but agreed that the tone of the post “came across badly.”

A few users took a lighter approach, with one joking,

“I haven’t gotten a single gift from my high schoolers - I’ll build myself a cupboard for all those mugs any day!”

Despite a handful of voices defending the teacher, the overwhelming response from parents and educators was frustration.

“Imagine being this ungrateful when people are struggling to make ends meet,” one mom wrote. “You don’t know what it takes for a parent to buy that gift - sometimes it’s just so their child can feel proud to hand it over.”

The post has since sparked a wider discussion about expectations around teacher appreciation gifts, gratitude and the pressures many parents feel at the end of the school year.

As one commenter summed it up: “A gift, no matter how small, should never be taken for granted. If your cupboards are full, fill someone else’s - there’s always someone who would love what you don’t want.”