Plum tuckered

Someone once told me that tough times don't last but tough people do.  I hope so,  because I had one tough day.
The Gentle Giant could not get out of bed this morning, so I let him sleep. He was up all night having nightmares again about suffocation. How I wish I could help him with this, I hate to see the panic when he jerks awake.
So, I bounce out of bed at 6:30am, get dressed, put the dogs out, and start the cream of wheat for Little Joe. I mixed up some chocolate chip muffins for the boys and took the trash out. By 7:00 am, Chuckles,(Little Joe) showed up and Becky was in a minor panic. She told me that Little Joe had rolled off the bed, and she felt so bad about it. He was not hurt, but I can understand her feelings, that little worm has scared me on  more than one occasion! We checked him for bruises and bumps but found none, and pretty much that was that.  By the way, he bit another baby at church yesterday. Now, when I say bit, I mean sort of grazed the other baby with his front teeth. He has been doing this, and he really took a bite out of Nanamee the other day. I told Becky, time for tough love. If he bites again, pop his little leg, but make sure he doesn't know where it came from. He has bitten Eli, Jacob, PaPa, Becky, Nanamee, and Sissy, and probably others.  What he does is get a mouthful of your shirt, and the skin comes with it.  Anyway, since I "know everything", I was determined to teach him not to bite. The day went on, and Papa went to the feed store and picked up some red plums and dewberries so that I could make jelly for the feed store.  I took the opportunity to sweep and mop the house so that Little Joe can wander at will, put all the dishes away, cleaned off the table and in general, got ready for jelly day.
This means that I cleaned a huge amount of red plums, (the little kind) and put them in my largest pot to simmer so that I could extract the juice.  In another pot, I started the dewberries. The dewberries cooked much faster than the plums, and I put them in a giant colander to drain. So far, so good. I still have a few hours till the kids get off the bus, and Little Joe was sleeping.  Martin got ready to leave for work, and I asked him to be sure the fire under the plums was on the lowest setting. He said he would. My floors were clean, the kitchen tidy and the fruit cooking. I could rest for a bit. About an hour later, I went to check on my plums, and got a horrible shock!  They had simmered over the top of the pot and the vibrant, sticky red juice had run everywhere!  My stove top had about an inch of juice in it, the drawers of the cabinet beneath were soaked along with all the silverwear, and utinsels, and there was a small river of red plum juice that ran from the stove to the far window of the kitchen!  As I was perusing this mess, the baby woke up and wanted a bottle. I had to step over the river of plum juice to get a bottle and again over it to warm it up. I went and fed the baby and changed him and put him down on the floor with his toys.
Back to the kitchen. Good heavens, what a mess! A whole roll of paper towels did nothing for it, and I was getting desperate, because I knew that Little Joe would only give me so much time.  Then, I got a brainstorm.  Now, Becky, if you are reading this, don't get mad.  It occurred to me that Pampers would really soak up moisture, and I went and got a few from the diaper holder. Bingo!  After 3 diapers, the stove was clear of juice! One more for each drawer, and one to catch the mess under the cabinets.  A total of 6 diapers and I was home free! (Becky, I will pay you back). After that, I got the swiffer out and made quick work of the plum juice on the floor and then, with perfect timing, heard Little Joe starting to fuss.  Wonderful Nana that I am, I threw the plum soaked diapers in the trash and went to get him.  I was feeling pretty smug about having averted a plum juice catastrophe, and sat in the recliner with Little Joe.  He snuggled up to my shoulder, and I was thinking how sweet he was when:  OUCH! He clamped his little teeth down on my shoulder and took a bite! I jerked my shirt out of his mouth, and popped his leg.  He started crying and so did I.  Sissy called, and I was sobbing. "Mother! What's wrong?!!"she said. I snuffled out that I had popped Little  Joe on his leg and he cried, and it made me feel so bad. She reminded me that I didn't seem to feel so bad when she was little and I popped her leg, or even had her go and get a switch!  She's right of course, but Nana's have a softer than Mama's, or at least I guess we do.  Anyway, I got to join the ranks of those who Little Joe has chomped on. Maybe he will quit. I hope so.
To end the day, I would like to say that I finished the most fabulous batch of dewberry jam. It is delicious, and I made 14 pints. Tomorrow, I will finish the red plum and watch out for Little Joe's teeth. Life goes on, and remember, tough times don't last, but tough people do!