Today was a family lunch in celebration of SS4's bday. We're having a party next week but we had a family lunch today. I ended up taking a separate vehicle than DH, I had BS1 with me & I'd had to run a few errands first. I found that skipping the part where I had to go to BM's (low income) apartment & wait in the truck (I never go in there, I make DH enter the dragon's lair by himself) while DH fetched SK's really saved me from a lot of stress & as a result, I had a lot more patience with them today. It's like going near BM, especially in her natural habitat can put a cloud over my day. I try not to let her bother me & I always smile & say hi to her despite the fact that she won't even acknowledge me (I smile a little bit bigger when I think of all the reasons why she hates me). However, not even going near her really does feel good. I think I'm going to avoid all pick ups & drop offs I possibly can from now on & see if it always makes me more patient with SKs. Not to mention having my own car made it possible for me to skip out whenever I was ready. BS had been sleeping on our way to lunch but I used the excuse he hadn't napped yet to get out of there before I could start to feel grouchy with SKs. DH was still stressed out after he got home but I made him dinner & we had a quiet evening. He's calmer now. The next big challenge will be the party next week. I'm really wishing I had zanex.