Vacation Bliss

Well, it definitely started out that way. First time with OTL and his daughter together with me and my kids. They did well... for the first two days. Then it became clear that the two girls wanted nothing to do with my son, the younger brother.

So what does he do?
What everyone in his situation would do, of course.
He annoys the shit out of them!

He yells, he interrupts, he ruins things, he starts fighting and then runs to tell the grownups when the girls get him back.

AND, worst of all, I can't get him to stop.
Meaning, at first I felt for him. Tried the whole "inclusion, hurt feelings, how would you feel? blah-blah with the girls" until that really only made things worse.

But now he's just behaving badly. And all the trouble spots that I have been working on and making some progress, have gone back into negative numbers.

I'm ready to drop him off somewhere, let the girls make jewelry, then curl up in a hot-tub and hibernate. I seriously want to cry. This is my first "family vacation" since the divorce, and all the vacations during the marriage were just a boatload of misery. So here I am, charting new waters, negotiating new relationships, and as much as I love and adore my children, I want a vacation.