My husband and I are the proud parents of three kids four and under. Some days we wonder what the heck we were thinking having kids so young close together while other days we feel more confident in our parenting. My husband and I love sports so naturally we often compare our life to athletic analogies. Having one child, then adding a second to three kids in a span of four years is no joke for parents. My husband and I joke the uneven adult to child ratio is like playing basketball. The Ross adult team needs some good defensive strategies.
How to win with a two-on-three one defense:
1. Assess the situation. Who is injured, bleeding, stuck, or has to go potty? Help them first .
2. Strollers, carts, or anything with straps are your friend. Any type of device that keeps your child contained and not running around a store, restaurant, etc. etc, is a helpful friend- embrace it!
3. Keep your head on a swivel. I may or may not develop neck problems from turning my head in all directions trying to keep eyes on kids at all times. But beware- they move fast!
4. Don’t wear heels when alone with children- ever. Seriously, do you want to die of exhaustion in ten minutes? Wear shoes you can run/bust a move in!
5. Always hold hands. I legit will make my kids hold hands until they are married just to keep them safe .
How the Ross team quickly became outnumbered:
2 on 1
Seven months after my husband and I were married, and right after I finished playing college soccer, we decided we would not prevent pregnancy. To our joy and surprise, we were pregnant a month and a half later.
Nine months later we had our beautiful baby girl. 2 on 1 D, what a breeze! Just kidding, learning how to be a new parent with a new baby is hard! The good part was, there was two of us adults and only one child. I mean, logically that means the odds were in our favor. When I was home alone with her it was still man-to-man defense but when we were both with her, she was outnumbered.
Man-to-Man
Our little family of three was settling into our routine when we found out our surprise baby was on his way. My oldest was only seven months. My husband and I had mixed emotions (rightfully so). However, I was already a couple months along when we found out so the pregnancy went by fast. Before we knew it, my husband and I were playing man-to-man. Although the adjustment was difficult at times, my husband and I knew we were bigger than the other team which gave our defense an advantage. But goodness! Could those babies team up on us when they decided they both needed something at the same time.
Zone
We added baby number three to the family nearly two years after we got used to man-to-man D. My husband and I had to switch from man-to-man defense to zone. This often means that we have to divide and conquer. Now that our oldest is a little older she switches to our team to help out, but most of the time she’s on the kid team.
Like I said, there are some days I feel like a plastic bag drifting through the wind (thanks Katy Perry). There are days when I feel like I’m so far behind in this parenting game that there’s no way I’ll ever make a comeback. There are some days when I feel like maybe I need a water break … any kind of break! Sometimes I want to yell “take me out coach!” But then there are times when I feel like my husband and I are definitely winning. I think it’s important to remember that we are all on the same team and that together, we will get the win!
If you are on the fast track to zone defense (or you are already deep in zone), keep some of my strategies above in mind. Also, lots of deep breaths…hopefully one of them will get famous or super rich….the more kids, the better the odds right?
xoxo,
Jordyn
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