The Pit of Despair

Right now, parenting in our household slightly resembles the pit of despair from "The Princess Bride."

I say slightly because I love my kids. Also, I'm an optimist.

But I'm also telling the truth.

With four kids, all in the double-digits, two in full-blown adolescence, one on the brink, and one that feels left out because she still has two years to go until puberty, our house is not without drama. On any given day, there are always at least two children that can be termed as high-maintenance.

The other night, when the youngest had pitched a particularly impressive fit regarding a pair of wedged-booties that do not belong to her, AeB and I sat in our bedroom, exhausted and (to be honest) a bit shell shocked.

Earlier that day, he had just said that his prayer for the year was to love this year with our kids, and not merely survive it. (Thank you, Jon Foreman, for providing my oft-repeated mantra, I want to thrive, not just survive.) It seemed like the year of thriving was off to a poor start, however, when we had to send the youngest to bed early over what was basically a pair of Target shoes.

In the bleakness of the moment, AeB turned to me and said, "She just sucked one year of our life away."

AeB is not a movie-quoter by nature, but marriage has taught him to occasionally step up to the plate in order to keep pace with me. This particular instance was brilliant and I immediately went into raptures before countering with, "You are in the pit of despair. Don't even think of trying to escape... they're not even in high school yet!"

People, this is where we currently are in parenting. One day, one 80s movie quote at a time.