No, not the same as “day of beauty,” a ritual for which I rarely have the patience. And time? HA!

    No, beauty day, as in, “I have this weed killer/fertilizer I wanted to put on my lawn May 5 but I couldn’t because it was going to rain sometime in the next 24 hours, and I’ve been waiting ever since.” So even though I’m beat from working until 2 and eyeing another long shift this evening, part of my afternoon will involve chasing the spreader around the yard.

    More of the day, though, will be spent at three lacrosse matches. I have the camp chairs and camera ready so I can settle in and learn another new sport.

    This is the seventh child sport in our home, after soccer — which I do not miss — and baseball/softball, hockey, basketball and volleyball. The only reason I finally learned how to watch a football game was because my son started playing. Before that, it was just something I had to suffer through in marching band.

    The seventh is track. I watched two meets this week to close out the season, and I think I have the structure down now. Between those and a 9-3 win to seal the hockey season, we are down to one sport.

    Yes, track and hockey and lacrosse are all the same kid. No, we didn’t make him do all that; he wanted to. But I think he’s reconsidering for next spring.

    Being 13 is a job in itself, he has found.

    This post originally appeared on ourMidland.com, the online home of the Midland (MI) Daily News. Republished with permission.