On Being Outnumbered: The Joys of the Zone Defense

It wasn’t long after the birth of my third child that a well-meaning friend of my husband’s made the comment we’d come to hear again and again: “You’re outnumbered now. You’ll have to switch from man-to-man coverage to a zone defense.” He chuckled knowingly under his breath, himself a father of 4.

I’m not much of a basketball fan but I picked up what he was putting down. And while sometimes I feel like parenting is a contact sport where I play the role of defense AND referee, I see the positives in being “outnumbered.”

You Give Up on Perfection

When you’re outnumbered, you quickly learn that there’s no such thing as “perfect parenting.” You do your best every day and realize that there will be mistakes, but that you have another shot at it tomorrow.

You Celebrate the Small Victories...

…like finding 3 little pairs of matching shoes or getting out the door on time!

You Embrace the Silliness

Let’s face it…kids are funny. When you have 3 kids, getting that perfect photo is next to impossible, so you take what you can get. Embrace the silliness!

You Learn the True Meaning of Teamwork

Until we had 3 kids, my husband and I often worked in separate parenting spheres, each focusing on one child. Now that we’re outnumbered, we’ve had to learn how to really communicate and are a better team than ever!

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Mary Lauren Weimer is a social worker turned mother turned writer. Her blog, My 3 Little Birds, encourages moms to put down the baby books for a moment and tell their own stories. She writes about all things toddler at Babble’s Toddler Times. Connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.