Having a really shit day. Feel like I deserve my DD to hate me.

[Asleeponasunbeam]

Just everything is going wrong. I'm preparing for a 4-5 hour drive to my mums this afternoon with 4 and 2 year olds. Stressful enough in itself. DH is out this morning, so I'm doing it all. Everything that could go wrong has gone wrong (including being turned away from dog kennels due to a wrongly recorded vacc cert so we have to take him with us!).

But I just can't help nagging at 4 year old DD, who is really being quite good. She's just irritating the hell out of me and I can't hide my annoyance. Everything is a whine or complaint, but I sound just as bad, or worse, when I talk to her.

I've still got about an hour of packing and organising before DH gets home and THEN we all have to endure the journey. I am just being so horrible. I can't see how I can turn it round.

Can you give your DD something to do that won't take much tidying up, like some drawing? Ask her to draw your Mum a picture, set a timer for 15-20 mins and say when it goes off she can come and show you. You might be able to get a lot done and she won't be near you to annoy you. After that put the tv on for 20 mins etc. Just break the amount of time you have left before you go into things to do.

Can you just sit with them for five minutes and have a drink, a biscuit and a cuddle?

Five mins probably won't make that much difference to the packing and you'll probably all feel a lot better for the brief change in pace.