Mothers don’t get offseasons it seems

Reflecting back, I think one of my earliest memories was of Mother’s Day.

I distinctly remember, at about the age of four, asking a troubling question of my older brother John (who was much more experienced and wise at the ripe old age of six). I asked, “Why do we have to give Mom another special day? Her birthday was only a month or so ago.”

My serious question was met at first with only a scornful grimace by my brother, who was much more interested in the block towers he was putting up all over the room. (Let me clarify: He had no interest in architecture - he just wanted to set them up so he could charge about the room and knock them all down like a maniac. ...All in all, a darn good idea.)

But, after much persistence on my part, John stopped his potentially destructive construction for a second to ponder my query.

“Well,” he said. “Probably because you make such a mess around here. She has to clean up so much that she needs another special day to get a break.”

With that, he finished his last tower and proceeded to go about the quick decimation of his work - totally unaware of the hypocrisy between his words and actions.

Naturally, I accepted the words of my brother (he was too old to be wrong, after all), and I concluded that maybe Mom did deserve a whole two days off. (With an additional half day for Christmas, before she and Dad started cleaning up the wrapping paper.)

Now, I know a four-year old makes a big mess, but growing up, I probably managed to outdo myself as I got older. Getting into sports in after years certainly didn’t help, I’m sure. Walking in from the ballfield and tossing a mitt or a ball on the floor wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. (Sure, Mom made me pick them up when she saw me do it, but I’m positive I sneaked a few past her. I’d better be careful, though, she might have a different story.)

So, even though I would track in mud after baseball and football, snow after a basketball game and who knows what other messes I made ... Mom still only got those two days off.

Looking back at that question I made about 20 years ago, I realize that it was the wrong one. It should have been, “Why does Mom only get two days off?”

And I think I have an answer.

I see moms all the time in this job as sports editor. They come to games, bring snacks, bring items their son or daughter has forgotten, keep stats, run scoreboards and even coach. Then they cheer after the game, or console ... depending on the result.

This, of course, is besides all of the stuff they did earlier in the day behind the scenes.

So, my answer is this: I think moms deserve every vacation they get ... but to do this job, they must really enjoy their work.

Even if they are only recognized for it once a year.

With that thought, I’ll briefly jump into area sports.

The Columbus High boys soccer team had a great run at state. Even though they fell Saturday, they obtained some excellent experience.

District track was last week and several area teams look ready for state.

District golf starts today! Be sure to check out the sports section tomorrow for results.