We are all tired and at the end of our tethers. The driving, the travel, the fact that one parent is working at all times. The house is a mess and it feels like we are barely scraping by on all accounts. 

My mother lives by the 80/20 rule*.  She firmly believes that there will always be 20% of everything that will be harder...a struggle to get done, more difficult to live through, or just maybe not going the way it should.  At the moment the 20% that is  harder is the relationships between 5 of us - we are all grating on each other - the children are unsettled and unruly, the parents are tired and grumpy. No one speaks, we only yell, screech and whine. 

And so, I make lists. Of all of the things we are going to do when we get through the next few weeks. Play lego, cook, jump in puddles, stay in pjs, make enormous messes with paint, take baths that last at least an hour, so everyone comes out shrivelled.  All of the things we do well to make that 20% a bit easier. 

* in fact, she has lots of theories about life.  I plan on writing a book called "Inspirational Shit My Mom Says". Like the time I asked her advice on which computer to buy and she said 

"Think about which alternative better serves you as a successful entrepreneur and business woman.  Act the person you want to become--abundance breeds abundance."