Page 16 of Love on the Sidelines

Surprisingly, things settle down from there and the drills go well. The kids get excited when they can go through the little water obstacle course we've set up in the far corner of the field.

As the class finishes and the parents pick up their children, I'm left with two whose parents haven't shown up. Mitt boy and a little boy who's been excited about every aspect of the sport.

"Will you two help me clean up the balls?" I ask, waving for them to follow me.

The one little boy walks next to me, gathering as many balls as will fit in his arms. Mitt boy has his finger stuck up his nose.

"I like boogers," he says, taking his finger out and sticking it into his mouth.

I turn away and gag.

"Maybe you should go sit over there and wait for your mom," I say, cringing at the thought of his booger and saliva covered hands touching any of the balls and equipment I'll have to use for another group. I don’t have time to disinfect everything. I barely have enough time to go get myself some lunch.

"Sawyer!" someone calls. I turn to see it's a dad who's just pulled into the parking lot. The child helping me dumps all the balls on the ground and runs over.

"Dad! Dad! I got a home run in our game."

That makes me smile. I love when they get so excited about the littlest things.

Sawyer's dad takes him with a wave and I'm still left with the mitt chewer. I reset the drills and make sure everything is ready to go.

"So Stu, what's your favorite thing to do?" I ask, taking a seat next to him. "Aside from eating boogers."

"I put gum in my sister's hair the other day. There was a lot of screaming after that."

Nodding, I say, "I can imagine. How about we walk over to the building and call your mom?"

I'm hoping there's a phone number for her or else I've been duped into babysitting. I could probably put a call into the police department, but I don't need to start trouble. It's best to just try to get hold of the mom before my brain spins with the possibilities.

Stu picks up the gravel that leads to the building and throws them at my legs as he walks a step or two behind me. It takes everything in me to keep calm.

I open the door to the rec center and say, "Okay, let's leave the rocks out here."

"I'm thirsty," Stu says.

I help him get a drink from the water fountain before I walk into the office area, looking for my sheet of parent info for the morning class.

"Who's your shadow?" Brenda, the receptionist, asks.

"His mom forgot to pick him up. I'm just trying to get her phone number and see if she’s close."

"Poor kid," a deeper voice says, and I turn my head to see Charlie there.

“Showing up at my work? This is getting seriously creepy,” I say, folding my arms across my chest.

Charlie raises his hands in surrender and says, “I didn’t realize this is where you still work, I promise.”

Brenda is practically fanning herself while trying to speak to him, so I go back to checking the sheet. As I dial the phone number to Stu’s mom, I try to overhear why he's here.

"I'd like to get a membership to the gym."

I frown, trying to keep from laughing at his request. I'm pretty sure this guy gave a healthy chunk of change to our lacrosse program. That should mean he can afford a gym in his own house, right? Because even just one piece of equipment that works is better than what's in the little gym in this building.

The last time I was in there, it felt like that part in the Lord of the Rings where the main character was basically wrapped up in the web from a giant spider.

Boogers and spiders. Not my normal thinking pattern, but that’s how today is going.

"Hello?" a voice says on the other line of my phone.

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