Tuesday, March 29, 2016

Ol' Hawk and Little Chicks

Sometimes on Friday afternoons, when school is out and the urgency of homework lifted because, tomorrow's the weekend! -- I find a gaggle of first grade boys are now in my care. Sometimes they are in my apartment, and I'm stir-frying supper for them whilst they stir-up legos, cars, magnatiles, lincoln logs, k'nex, plastic animals and bedding into a heterogeneous mixture all over the house. (!!!) Mom got smarter. More than two friends over, we're playing outside. Which is always my preference anyway -- trees to climb, green grassy fields to run -- but, boys and their legos. The appeal is real, tempting all first grade boys who deep in their hearts want to be free outside, back indoors to assemble together small plastic pieces. But we have such a good time outdoors on Fridays! Friday afternoon with our gaggle of friends is plausibly the moment we look forward to all week, and I want you to see it for yourself with these short video clips, just for you. (Admittedly also for me, so when my boys grow up I can relive these happy Fridays with children. Playing with children is the best!) Speaking of which, this very day we played a popular Chinese children's game called "Ol' Hawk and Little Chicks" in which the predator hawk tries to capture/tag the little chicks, while a designated Mama Hen is like a basketball player on defense, with wide arms blocking the hawk away from chicks scrambling behind her. Once a chick gets picked off he becomes the next hawk. I, naturally, was elected to be the Mama Hen for a million rounds and basically had the time of my life defending my chicks. The End.