Morning all. Gosh, it is only very, very windy now. No dangerously high winds or torrential rain to deal with today. Jolly good 
:)
Well done MsGee. Non-sleeping children at bedtime are the worst...good for you for resisting the wine. Bet that feels good this morning :)
Greyhound, glad you slept better last night. Sleeping well is one of the main incentives for me to not drink. I was a terrible insomniac for about nine years. Non-sleeping children aside, I would lie awake for hours and hours and just not be able to sleep for more than a couple of hours at a time. When I don't drink now I almost always sleep through the night...I still can't believe I can say that! That deep, restorative, refreshing sleep changes everything. I feel like I have a break from real life now too, and I feel soooo much better. The world seems a totally different place when you're not dog-tired, that's for sure. It did take me a couple of weeks to start sleeping well, but it is so worth perserving with. And, like Faire said, do you really have to go to the cocktail party? 
. That could be hard!
Rain, dealing with a 2,3, 4 and 5 year old every day terrifies me just thinking about it! You make me feel like a right lightweight as my DC are older and a lot further apart in age (3, 6 and 9) but I started my unhealthy drinking to get me through the tea-time/bath-time/bed-time horrors when they were younger. It's the arguing and the crying and the clambering for your attention and the multi-tasking that's required that gets you, isn't it? It's tough. It's getting better though as they get older, thankfully! Planning the after-school time and the meals etc has helped me a great deal. Again, like Faire says, make as much as you can in advance, then just re-heat at the appropriate time. And if you have had a busy day or you have after-school activities etc then there are some really healthy ready meals out there. M&S do some great ones. And ready-prepared veg (which you can just steam in the bag it came in! who knew?!) can be a great timesaver (I offset the guilt and shame of being so 'lazy' when I buy such things by reminding myself that it could help me not consume about a fiver's worth of wine that night...). I don't know your routine and what your DC will eat, obviously, but I now plan my meals etc quite thoroughly. I have also split the children up at bath-time (they can bicker for Britain). They have baths every other night now, and I bath DS by himself, the girls the other night. Less arguing and less stress = less wine :) I treat it as I would if it were part of my 'proper', paid job. I analyse the problem, prepare for it and reflect and tweak as necessary. Sounds daft but if it stops me getting frazzled and drinking too much, then who cares! Also, I do everything a bit earlier than I used to, so that if it all goes a bit pear-shaped and takes longer than usual, I'm not getting wound up about them going to bed late, and I'm not losing my patience or energy (I seem to get very irritable if I have to deal with pesky children after about 8pm, I am going to find later bedtimes as they get older quite a challenge aren't I? 
).
Saf, so much of what you say rings a bell with me. I know just what you mean about being affected by something but not always knowing what that thing is. It feels a bit like when you have a strange dream but you don't remember it but you feel different. It really helps to think about what's happened, to think it through and deal with it rather than just drink to deal with unpleasant emotions. Like you said, otherwise these things are just left hanging there...not good. Keep your thoughts coming! :)
Hope everyone else is doing OK too. Real-life drama has taken over for me recently. I feel like I need to find my focus again, and get back on track with my drinking and healthy eating and just general self-care really. This bus really does focus your mind, doesn't it? Hurrah for Gerald!