Swinging Harts

Began the morning with breakfast and Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Dan gets into a "Circle Time Squabble" when he and Miss Elania want to be waiters for Chrissy, and then they both want to sit next to her during their circle time. Teacher Harriet helps calm them down and show that no matter how angry they got, there are better ways to work out their problems than hitting. "It's Not Okay to Hurt Someone," especially when that someone is your little sister. Dan gets angry when Margaret crawls through his block farm entrance, and his mom isn't happy when he washes his animals instead of coming to dinner. They both discuss that it's not right to hurt someone and how to calm down before you lash out.

Spent the rest of the late morning and early afternoon vacuuming, Swiftering, and dusting my rooms. Listened to Mean Mothers: Independent Women's Blues, Volume 1 while I worked. These aren't the depressing laments most people think of when they discuss rhythm and blues. These sassy ladies of the 20's, 30's, and 40's were tough women at a time when women were only just starting to fight for their rights and their dignity. Songs like Bessie Brown's "Ain't Much Good In the Best of Men Nowadays," Bernice Edwards' "Long Tall Mama," and Blue Lou Barker's "I Don't Dig You Jack" dig into the bawdy world of strong women who don't put up with foolishness from anyone, let alone their men. We even have two standards, "Why Don't You Do Right?" by Lil Green and "Baby Get Lost" by Billie Holiday.

Switched to the 2001 Nero Wolfe while eating a quick lunch. This stylish A&E series adapted the famous series of mysteries from the 40's and 50's, with Maury Chaykin as the corpulent, orchid-loving private eye of the title and Timothy Hutton as his assistant (and the show's narrator) Archie Goodwin. Kicked off with the series opener "The Doorbell Rang." Wealthy Mrs. Rachel Bruner (Debra Monk) turns to Nero and Archie to get the FBI to stop following her. Turns out there's something more sinister going on than government agents following a rich lady around town when Archie discovers connections to the murder of a journalist investigating illegal FBI practices.

Hurried off to school even before the show ended. I was slightly late...which may have been a moot point. The kids were sitting in the hall when I arrived. This was the music class day, and the library is still being used by the school art show. Not a good thing, since we had 26 kids today, 10 in my group, and they were all wound up. We couldn't get any of them to sit down in the cafeteria. All they did was run around. 

They were wound up outside, too. Two of the boys jumped on the swings before we told them they were allowed to. I had to fight to get them off, and then to get them all in line when we did let them on. I'm tired of them all running at me once with "Me first!" and "Can I go on next?" They need to learn to wait their turn. If they get out of line to run with the others, they lose their turn and go to the back of the line. The other kids danced to "Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride" from Lilo and Stitch, "The Best of Both Worlds" from Hannah Montana, "Try Everything" from Zootopia, "Zoo" from Zootopia 2, and songs from Encanto, Moana, Moana 2, and KPop Demon Hunters. 

We finally took the remaining 3 kids back to the blacktop with the older kids around 5 PM. I sat with the one remaining girl inside. She's a bit shy, and I think she was hot after running around in the playground. I stayed with her until the head teacher came in to wipe down tables and said she'd stay with her. I headed out after that, making a quick stop at the Speedy Mart on the way home for a Propel and a treat.

After I got in, I took the trash outside, took a shower, made dinner, and went upstairs. Finished Nero Wolfe, then watched Match Game '74. Charlie Brill, slender husband of Mitzi McCall, made his first of two appearances on the show. He was joined by the delightfully daffy Joyce Bulifant and the delightfully sassy Marcia Wallace.

Finished the night with Hart to Hart. Annoyed that his new suit was switched with a larger one belonging to a mysterious Mr. Sole, Jonathan decides to make the switch himself. The last thing he and Jennifer expect to find in Mr. Sole's room is a dead man in the closet. Turns out the man doesn't exist. He was part of a CIA sting to flush out a member selling information to the highest bidder. It becomes a lot more than "Hart and Sole" when Jonathan offers to help out, and the man ends up kidnapping Jennifer.