Night of the Playground

Began the morning with breakfast and Little Bear. Little Bear is on his way "To Grandmother's House" with gifts, but he and his friends eat the gifts before they can get to her. Little Bear loves playing with "Grandfather Bear," even if he can't roll down a hill or do some of the more energetic things he does. Grandmother tells him the story of "Mother Bear's Robin." His mother took care of a baby robin when she was a young girl, finally letting him go when spring came.

Did two more cartoons involving the start of spring, which begins on Saturday. In Care Bears Family, Grams Bear tells Hugs and Tugs the story of "Caring for Spring." Jack (Tugs) and Jill (Hugs) must rescue Mother Nature (Grams) from the Wicked Witch of Winter (Shreeky) and her henchman Simple Simon (Beastly). They're given a magic ring, but use the wishes to help Jack Be Nimble (Champ) and Wee Willy Winkie (Bright Heart Raccoon). They learn about the importance of working together when their new friends help them after they're caught by the Witch, too.

Twilight Sparkle, on the other hand, must bring the spring without magic in My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. Each pony has a job to do in the "Winter Wrap Up," whether it's clearing snow clouds or breaking up icy ponds or awakening animals from their hibernation. Twilight struggles to find a group she can fit into, until she realizes how unorganized the others are. She then discovers where her true talents lay...making lists and making sure the others stick to them and to their schedule.

It was late when I called Uber. Thankfully, it only took me 8 minutes to get a ride going to the school. I had a much harder time getting a ride home. It took me 15 minutes! I was slightly late to work, but nothing really bad. 

Thankfully, we had slightly fewer kids today, only 22, 7 at my table. They cleaned up pretty well and were a little rowdy in the bathrooms, nothing really horrible. At least we were able to get them out to the playground this time! It was cloudy and chilly, probably in the upper 40's, but not windy or frigid. The kids had a marvelous time chasing bubbles and each other. I have no idea why half of them ditched their coats when they ran outside - it wasn't THAT warm! And I had to argue three of them back into their shoes. (You do not want to walk around in your sock feet on mulch.) They were so funny running after those bubbles, I spent most of the time doubled over laughing. We listened to "The Gummy Bear Song" and songs from Trolls, Bluey, Tangled, Moana, and Moana 2. 

Before and after we were outside, we let the kids color on papers taped to the tables. When we got back in, they used those dot markers and did stencils, too. We'd just had snack time and were trying to get the remaining four younger kids to settle down when they let me go. I saw the older kids in the playground on my way out to Uber. I even had the time to talk to one upset girl about how she was mad at her older sister. I know about being angry with sisters! Sometimes my sisters drive me crazy, too.

Put on Somebody Loves Me when I got home. I go further into this biography of legendary jazz singer Blossom Seeley and her long-time husband Benny Fields at my Musical Dreams Movie Reviews blog.

Somebody Loves Me

Switched to Match Game Syndicated next. This finished out the week with Robert Pine, Fannie Flagg, and Dolly Martin. They spent most of the week dealing with tiebreaker after tiebreaker when the contestants just couldn't seem to win anything. Fannie came up on the Star Wheel three times...and only got the answer right once.

Finished the night with The Wild Wild West. "The Night the Dragon Screamed" gets into stereotypical territory when Artemis Gordon and Jim West are tracking down opium smugglers who also run a thriving business bringing in Chinese immigrants. While Artemis poses as a Chinese worker for the head of the ring, Jim has to deal with British military man Colonel Allenby-Smythe (Ben Wright), who wants to capture a princess and take over China.