Christmas carols are ringing and you’re feeling especially generous toward the people who make your life better all year round, like your house cleaner. So should you give them a gift or an extra holiday tip?

In our opinion, it’s a very nice and welcome gesture to do something extra for your home cleaner during the holidays. If you usually leave a $20 tip for each visit, you might consider bumping that up to $50 as a treat to acknowledge the great work they do for you. Put the cash into a holiday card so that they know it’s a special tip.

If you’d prefer to give them a gift instead, great!—that’s a nice gesture, too. A gift card, a beautiful basket of specialty foods or spa products, or something else you know your cleaner would enjoy— these are all thoughtful ideas. One cautionary note—we think it’s best to avoid giving alcohol as a gift unless you’re certain it would be welcomed.

If you don’t feel compelled to tip extra for the holidays, be assured that your cleaners won’t do a bad job cleaning your home just because you didn’t pony up a bigger tip for Christmas. If you are working with a professional cleaning company, their employees are trained to do a good job regardless of a holiday tip. They will be working with many customers —some of whom celebrate the holidays with gifts and others who do not.

So to summarize, acknowledging your house cleaner at the holidays is up to you, but we do recommend it. Giving an extra holiday tip or gift is a thoughtful gesture and passes along some holiday cheer to the people who work hard to make your busy life a little bit easier. Happy Holidays!