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Every once in a while, we like to take a break from the news grind and relax with a video that makes us laugh, or smile, or shake our head in disbelief.

Evidently, you do too.

The list of the most-watched videos on CTVNews.ca this year contains no earth-shattering headlines, no death and destruction, and not even much mention of the pandemic that still rules so much of our lives.

Here are five of the videos that had us, and apparently you, hitting the play button over and over again in 2021.

MANITOBA WOMAN COMES FACE-TO-FACE WITH MAMA BEAR

For Diane Fillion, Aug. 28 started out just like any other Saturday.

Then in her own front yard.

The resident of Lac du Bonnet, Man. was startled to find a mother bear and its three cubs interrupting her playtime with her dog. Video from a security camera showed a bear running into Fillion, causing her to fall to the ground.

Fillion, who was not injured, told Â鶹´«Ã½ Winnipeg that the bear then climbed into a tree with its three cubs. Conservation officials decided the best course of action was to let the animals wander off on their own.

DRYWALLERS CAUGHT PARTYING AT CONSTRUCTION SITE

As Ontario's third wave of COVID-19 neared its peak, with daily case counts as high as they had ever been, a large group of workers decided to get together for a retirement bash.

That choice would have been questionable enough, but what happened at the party raised eyebrows even higher and resulted in several of the attendees losing their jobs.

The party took place April 9 at an under-construction home in Milton, Ont. showed several construction workers dancing without any of the masks or distancing that would have been required at that time.

A drywall company doing subcontracting work at the home said it terminated the employment of every employee it could identify from the video. All told, at least six people lost their jobs over the party.

ALTA. WOMAN'S LAUNDRY HACK GETS MILLIONS OF VIEWS ON TIKTOK

Very few people enjoy doing laundry. For most of us, it's boring, time-consuming, and unfortunately necessary.

So perhaps it's not a surprise that when Carol Larson of Coalhurst, Alta. found a way to speed up the process, millions of people checked it out.

The mother of three sharing her retail-style method of hanging shirts – and within a few days, her rapid-fire shirt-on-hanger method had garnered more than six million views.

The overnight success of her video led to thousands of reaction videos, praise from celebrities, and more than a few people asking her why her husband doesn't hang up his own shirts.

COUPLE ON HOLIDAY SURPRISES BEAR IN COTTAGE HOT TUB

The second bear encounter on our list was less violent than the first – and this time, it was the bear that was caught by surprise.

Mason Trebony was camping at Tennessee's Great Smoky Mountains National Park on March 20 when he noticed a black bear outside his cabin at sunrise.

Shooting video on his phone, Trebony captured footage of the bear making its way into a hot tub and, in his words, "having a blast."

The video also shows Trebony opening a sliding door to try and get a better angle on the bear, but closing it after the bear splashed water in his direction.

MEET MONTREAL'S TIKTOK-FAMOUS SNOWBOARDING TODDLER

A few weeks before Larson's laundry hack lit up TikTok, a pint-sized snowboarder was among the most popular Canadians on the platform.

Guillaume Barabe posted a video of his then-18-month-old daughter to the platform in February, then watched in astonishment as more than 14 million views rolled in.

Barabe told Â鶹´«Ã½ Montreal that his daughter had only started snowboarding the previous Christmas, but had already honed her slope skills into a daily routine that sometimes stretched up to 45 minutes.