Amanda S asked:


I work for a small home based business where it's typically just me and my boss (the business owner) in the office. I have been here for 3 years. In the past I have given her Christmas gifts such as handmade earrings I purchased from a local silversmith, gift cards of sizable amounts, and other gifts of considerable effort/cost. She has given me such things as a tin of hot cocoa or a pair of socks. Considering the length of time I have worked here and the closeness of our work and personal relationship, is she just being thoughtless, or am I to take the hint that the scale of my gifts is too great? I had planned to give her a nice pashmina shawl and a necklace I made this year, but now I'm not sure it will be appreciated. She has also never offered me a holiday bonus.
It's not really the cost that matters to me, it's the fact that I put thought and effort into choosing something nice and personal that she would like, and it seems like she just picked something up at the drugstore.
Exactly, it's the THOUGHT.... I put a lot of effort into choosing my gifts and her gifts seemed thoughtless to me.

2012 Obama