I love my boys. I love that they are kind, funny, handsome, and intelligent. I love that they are athletic, and I love watching them play the sports they love. For my oldest, that’s lacrosse. For my youngest, it’s football — and as of a few weeks ago, spring track.
What I don’t love is the weather that goes along with these sports.
Both fall and spring are tricky. The weather at the beginning of football season is unbearably hot and by the time the last game rolls around in November, it’s frigid. The weather for lacrosse and track is the reverse; it starts off bitter cold (and often snowy or rainy) and is hot and muggy by the end. After all, March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, and April showers bring May flowers. I don’t know what the saying is for May, but it probably has something to do with the unearthing of bees, to which I’m allergic.
Needless to say, outdoor sports are challenging and I am, admittedly, a fair-weather fan. Not in the sense that I only support my boys when their teams are winning, but in the sense that I’d prefer to say home and watch the live stream if it’s raining, snowing, too windy, or too cold — which is often the case during the first few weeks of spring sports.
This past Saturday was O’s first Varsity track meet. #IYKYK … It’s an all-day affair. It was also a monsoon.
Okay, so it wasn’t REALLY a monsoon, but it might as well have been because it was rainy, cold, and windy THE WHOLE TIME. It sucked. And unlike lacrosse games, track meets are neverending; there’s A LOT of waiting around.
This is not my first rodeo with track. Both my boys ran when they were younger (you can read my revelations as a “meet mom” here.) But I’m impatient and I also have Raynaud’s, so standing around for hours in the cold, wet weather makes me a special kind of miserable and cranky.
It’s not pretty.
Thankfully, seeing my boys do what they love brings me joy and warms my heart — even in the bitter cold rain. I just wish it warmed my toes, too.
So for the next few weeks, if you’re in the stands with me, be prepared for a decent amount of bitching mixed in with my cheering. As the weather warms up, I’ll be a much better parent and fan, I promise.
-LJDT
