Etiquette and Banana Bread

I am allergic to foodstuffs. One foodstuff in particular. It is not a common allergy. It is not life threatening, but it is painful and long lasting.
People in my culture like to give service by gifts of foodstuff. Homemade, delicious, and calorie rich. Comfort foods. I really love this and do this myself.   
However, the food I am allergic to is in most comfort foods.  Its not a terribly common one nor in the forefront of popular allergy awareness.
When someone brings me a plate of food I cannot eat out of kindness or whatnot, what do I do?
Do I explain that, thank you, but actually I can't eat any of this. I'll just let my husband eat it. (Which is completely lame for me.)
Do I take the plate, thanking them for the gesture and letting go at that?
Do I say, thanks but why don't you give it to another family?
Or, something to the effect of: I am certain that you and I have had an in-depth conversation about my allergy and yet you still bring me this?
I usually go with taking the plate, thanking them for the gesture and letting go at that, approach. I think this approach is right when the person didn't know or when it is a batch of goodies given to may people, like for Christmas.  But, when it was made particularly for me by an aware person without regards to my particular food needs it just gets on my nerves. It is when 'you shouldn't have' can be taken more literally.
I understand people are busy and that life is such that any effort is to be heralded. But, it doesn't allow me to partake of the effort any more for such ideals.
When you are sick you just freaking want to eat the chocolate chip cookies you didn't have to make that were dropped into your hands. You don't want to wait and watch as your husband enjoys them for you. 
What do you think is the best approach?
 

The Future

Today is a day where getting up at 4:18 am seems like a worthless sacrifice.

I can respect hat early morning bible study doesn't get any teenager excited.  No teenager says, "PLEASE can we get up 2 hours earlier to read ancient texts!?" Or, "How about we get up one more hour earlier so that we can have a WHOLE 'NOTHER HOUR to study the gospel!"

I get that. I also get that it is a struggle to make it there and no one is at their best when the first part of the morning is spent in a power struggle with your parents who insist on your attendence.  Or without eating breakfast, or because last night you chose to relax, kick it and have some much needed fun. But, as I like to tell the students, it is the same early for all of us.

What I don't get is the vehement resentment and lack of respect I get from a handful of students. I have been thinking all morning on how I feel about this. Variations on the phrases 'I don't care if they like me' keep popping in my head. But it isn't true. I have aimiable feelings for all the kids. I can see their faults as well as their strengths. I really admire them for showing up and trying. I have love for each of them individually. It does hurt that they think poorly of me when I work so hard for them.

I don't go home and cry in my pillow or stop eating because of it, but it does make me question why I make the sacrifices nessisary to teach them.  I could stay home and sleep. Better yet, any evening I wanted to I could watch a movie, make out with my husband and then take medicine to help me sleep. I could regularly get 6 maybe 7 hours of sleep a night. As it is, I can't take my meds after 7pm if I want to wake up on time. If I want to see my husband who doesn't get home until 7 15, I can't take my meds that early. 

I choose to see my husband, but have to also be there early to open the building and get ready. So, after greating my husband, eating dinner together, getting on the same page for administrative nessecities like bills and schedules, etc, and a bit of down time, I get maybe 4 hours of sleep a night if I am lucky.

Those of you who know me know that sleep is vitally important for my day to day health. I don't know if you've had the joy of getting little to no sleep for weeks on end; for those of you that have, you'll know that one doesn't fuction at her best, mentally or patience wise.

I spend hours not only on lessons but also on the messy and endless administrative minutia of paper work scheduling, contacting parents, emailing updates, facebooking updates, planning with the 2 other teachers, etc. I ask them to read no more than 5 pages a night, with weekends off, and they say they have too much to do, no time.

I am a volunteer. These are not my children, relatives, close friends' children, nothing. I am vaugely aquaintanes at best and, at the other end, simply forced church associates with their parents. Friendly, but nothing like personal friends. Investing in these teenagers' well being has nothing but heady altruistic benifits to me.

It has rarely sat well with me when I came to realize a person though negatively of me. I just don't understand that. I like most everyone and prefer to focus on the easy simlilarities, the good points, the highlights, good times past and place these before the negative or conflicting aspects.  On some level I know that not everyone is going to be my best friend or even like me. I accept that teenagers are emotionally volitle and moody. Living with it is a different ball of wax from the idea.

There are some clear blessings to me personally. I know that I can get up early and even be early.  I could make it to a job that start at 6 or 7. I get to see the stars very morning and get to feel/watch the sunrise through the east facing class room windows. It gives structure to my days and weeks. It gives me a purpose that isn't dependent soley upon me.

The blessing I feel it is giving me today is in considering whether I want to go to more school so that I can have days like these as full time high school teacher.  I love seeing things connect and love watching young minds blossom. Really, only a very few students are causing any problems.

But is it worth it, after all?

| And would it have been worth it, after all,
| Would it have been worth while,
| After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
| After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail
| along the floor—
| And this, and so much more?—

'What is Domestic Violence?' Graphic

I put this together for a friend, what do you think? She asked that I reformat the information found here and make it post-able graphic on Pinterest or Facebook.

 Source: http://www.actabuse.com/domestic-violence/what-is-domestic-violence/

New Blog to Post about My Sundries of Intersts

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