It's not that I have any childhood connection to Schoolhouse Rock. When I was little, I'd sit on the floor in front of the old black and white TV set and watch Howdy Doody and Crusader Rabbit on Saturday mornings. But I never totally outgrew Saturday morning cartoons (although the ones that are on now leave me a little cold, and besides there are whole animated channels and the experience becomes a little more diluted and a little less special).

So when I stuck the Schoolhouse Rock DVD in the player this afternoon (having received nothing new from Netflix, although by Tuesday I should be watching Spirit), I knew what I'd be listening to (except for the Money Rock songs from the 1990s that I didn't remember at all). What I didn't expect was that I'd be sitting on the floor watching it as if I were six years old and Soupy Sales was having a pie fight with Pookie the Lion.

I thought I remembered "Conjunction Junction" being my favorite, but "Interjections!" also brought back some warm memories. Yes, warm memories of when I was 25 and had nothing better to do than watch children's television. Come to think of it, I'm almost twice that old now, and this is how I spent my Saturday evening. (What? Oh, yeah.)

What I planned was to have the DVD on in the background while I went about my business. Well, I did take the socks and underwear out of the dryer. They've been in there since Thursday and weren't doing me much good where they were. There comes a time when you have to take action. Now they're sitting in the laundry basket on my bed, waiting to be folded and put away. I'll probably get around to that before I have to wash them all again.

What I didn't expect was that I'd watch the whole two and a half hours, from "Unpack Your Adjectives" to the special new song at the end ("I'm Gonna Send Your Vote To College"). I tried not to get too emotional, even when Mr. Morton and Pearl finally hooked up, but it wasn't easy. A little bitty tear let me down.

No, I didn't spend the whole time sitting cross-legged on the floor. After five minutes my back started to hurt, and then it took another five minutes for me to unfold my legs and I don't know how long to stand up again. I know I was once young enough to sit there for hours in that position, but that was back when the catch phrase was "Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy."

"Mr. Morton is the subject of the sentence, and what the predicate says, he does." I don't remember what I learned from Miss Frances of Ding Dong School, but I do recall helping Winky Dink, even before I had the magic screen to cover the TV set. Yes, I colored directly on the screen, and I don't think I was the only kid who did that.