Your break sounds utterly fab dizzy . Dramas apart! And yes, we are serious about planning a trip. But all depends on my Mum and her willingness to pick up the reins in our absence. She's coming next week though and I have a cupboard well-stocked with gin...[hopeful]
So sorry thing are feeling so difficult at the mo queen. Just articulating the things you know you're not doing so well at the mo is a big thing. You can crack the routine and that will give you such a boost to tackle the rest. In some ways the routine is the easy bit as you know from the wealth of experience on here that it will get better, and quite quickly, once you're consistent. As others have said, you just need to pick your battles. Good luck. We are all here for you.
Thanks for asking about BiL and family red. BiL seems to be battling hard. All this talk about routine/structure is very interesting as it chimes in this, very different(!) instance too. He now recognises the need to have a routine, keep busy, achieve things, however small each day and to keep moving forwards. Doesn't make the horror of the last 6 months any easier but it does make it easier to deal with iykwim. MiL's health isn't great at the best of times and it's nose-dived recently, which hasn't helped DH's frayed nerves.
Sorry to hear about DS1's school woes VG. Hope all goes well with the new school. I know exactly what you mean about taking positive action making you feel better. Trouble is that in this case, would this actually be better for the DDs or just my work commitments? I'm going to meet a childminder and a nursery tomorrow and am starting to feel calmer and more open-minded about the whole situation so we'll see. Still bloody annoyed (and tired!) though.