The Grapes of Wrath

Yesterday (by the way my 21st anniversary of my entry into the MTC) man I am feeling old.







Well as usual I digress... So on Monday I thought it would be fun to go to my Parents house and harvest Concord Grapes. It was fun! We basically picked all the grapes that were ripe or even acted ripe. The whole idea was to bring them home put them in the steamer and extract the juice. The juice will then be processed into Jelly at some point. (That has not happened yet.) I did this last year and the jelly was such a hit I knew that I had to go for a repeat performance.

Have you ever started a project and wish you had left it for another day. It seems like there are not enough minutes to get everything that needs doing done. Well the grape project was one of these projects. I should have juiced later. The picking went smashingly. All objectives for the outing were met. The kids got out of the house for a few hours and we came home with grapes.



Unfortunately it was the seaming that went awry this time. The product was fine. (I'm sure you are much relieved!)I got 12 cups of juice. (That will make 2.25 batches of the good stuff.) I was multi tasking while Emma was pushing up a chair so she could get involved in the kitchen activities. She usually makes her way to the sink, (which drives me crazy). I was steaming and making dinner at the same time. I had turned my back on Emma's scooting chair and by the time I turned around she had gotten up and reached for a banana on the counter next to the steaming grapes of wrath and burned her little arm on the steaming pot. ACK!

I felt terrible. First because I was in charge of the kitchen and second, I was also watching the kids. Failed on both stewardship's! Of course my first reaction was to let 3 year old Emma know that her accident was a result of not following my precise instructions by keeping away from the hot steamer. After an unneeded 3 second lecture I pulled my head out and got cool water on her arm. Luckily for us the burn was not as bad as I first thought although bad enough. She slept all night and is feeling much better today.

Still I feel sort of jerk like for my first reaction. I guess that is all part of being a father. Next time I will administer first aid first. Everyone knows that there is plenty of time to lecture after the fact. Having said that it is strange I still feel a lecture is needed. I know from experience as a "lecturee" for many years that the "I told you so" lecture really does no good and is actually quite pointless. However, I have also learned that it does make a Father feel better to give the lecture anyway. Hmmmm. Kind of funny and dumb at the same time.

I have to admit the greatest lectures I ever received growing up were the ones I never got (but deserved). I still have to learn to give that one.