Season 1 Episode 8 “Ma’s Holiday”- Little House on the Prairie

Charles is going to Mankato for a week to deliver wood from the saw mill and asks Caroline if she would like to come so they could have a second honeymoon. She is excited but apprehensive about leaving the girls for that long. They arrange for Miss Grace from town to stay with the children. When the day comes to leave, Miss Grace is sick with a sore throat and can’t stay with the children. Charles and Caroline are disappointed. Just then, Mr. Edwards arrives for a visit. The girls beg him to stay with them for the week so their mother can go to Mankato too. He agrees because he doesn’t have work for the week either. Caroline is not so sure Mr. Edwards can take care of the girls, but Charles and the girls convince her that it will be just fine.

Mr. Edwards has many stories to tell to the girls. They enjoy his company very much, but soon find that he does things quite differently than their Mother. Laura and Mary help Mr. Edwards take care of Carrie and get her tucked into bed. The next day, Mr. Edwards wakes the girls up late for school. He has a busy day doing the chores around the home and wonders how Mrs. Ingalls gets anything done with Carrie wandering off so much. He kills a rattle snake on a walk with Carrie and cooks it up for dinner. The older girls don’t like the taste of the stew he makes for them.

Meanwhile, in Mankato, Charles has taken Caroline to a fancy restaurant to eat and then to a play. She worries the whole time about the girls and can’t stop talking about them. Charles promises her a new bonnet if she will stop worrying so much. Everywhere they go, something reminds Caroline of her girls back home, so finally Charles decides they will go home a day early.

At home, the girls are in bed and suddenly remember that they forgot to collect the chicken eggs that day. They will go bad if they let the chickens sit on them overnight. So they go out in a rain storm and collect the eggs. Mr.Edwards wakes up to the squacking of chickens and thinks there are chicken thieves in the yard. He gets his gun and is about to go outside when the girls come in. He is startled and his gun goes off, making a hole in the roof. He spends the next day fixing the roof.

Laura goes to town to deliver the eggs to Mr. Olsen and sees her parents coming in on the wagon. She runs home to tell her sisters and Mr. Edwards so they can get the house cleaned up before their parents arrive. Soon the chores are done and Mr. Edwards starts playing pony rides with the girls, but they are too much weight for his back and he throws it out. He can’t stand straight, but pretends he is alright when Mr. and Mrs. Ingalls arrive. Charles pretends he had a good trip to Mankato and they both say a quick good-bye to avoid any awkwardness!