Four Bad Moods at Once: The Perfect Storm

"I never meant to make you cry
And though I know I shouldn't call
It just reminds us of the cost
For everything we've lost
Bad timing that's all"
– Blue Rodeo

…A beautiful song which speaks of a relationship's bitter end, regret, and the acceptance of inevitability.
Or, is it about one crabby-ass family dinner at the Bodanis house Thursday night?

Any parent will acknowledge – usually with a guffaw and sly smile – dinner time is a young child's witching hour; school is over, their brains have been taxed by hours of practicing upper and lower-case letters, grouping fruit into bundles of five for purposes of addition, and struggling to read compound words.
Outdoor recess, indoor lunch, and after-school play in the yard has sapped them of any pent-up physical tension. Finally, downtime before supper (in our house it usually includes a good thirty minutes of television for the offspring while the adults have quiet during dinner prep. After 15 minutes, though, my daughter grabs her apron, drags her chair to the counter, and assumes her position as Sous-Chef), slows them down long enough to allow fatigue to finally catch up.
It's at that point a request they go to the washroom and wash their hands before coming to the supper table triggers the daily march toward resistance, whining, and the practiced repetition of a child's favorite word: no.

We parents are, of course, also wrestling our own end-of-day symptoms: fatigue – both mental and physical, hunger, as well as the need for a little quiet. We, unlike our kids, have no choice in the matter: 'Dinner won't cook itself'. No truer axiom was spoken.
The difference is, adults generally have (or are supposed to have) a more well developed coping mechanism. In our house, if I'm a little down-in-the-dump, my wife usually has enough positivity to keep the general mood from flying off the rails. The reverse is usually true when she's off kilter.

BUT…there are those days…like Thursday. Extra homework for the tired boy, a general bad mood for the strong-willed girl, and frustration from Mom and Dad exacerbated by an odd, grumpy old guy improperly installing blinds in our living room and dining room: the series of three pull-downs on each window now have large gaps between them, and run away from each other at an angle when drawn towards the floor. Let the series of phone calls and helpless demands of restitution begin.

"Turn off the T.V. and come to the table,  please."
No answer.
"Turn off the T.V. and come to the table,  please!"
No answer.
"Turn off the T.V. NOW!"
…groan…moan…eye-roll…parents lose patience.
"Go wash your hands, please."
No reaction.
"Go wash your hands, NOW."
…groan…moan…eye-roll…parents lose patience.
Kids complain about food.
Parents lose patience.

No one at the table is speaking to anyone else; child makes derogatory comment about the vegetable side-dish and gets sent away from the table.
Parent feels guilty.
Parent goes to bring the child back to the table.
Child says he's  busy…parent loses patience.
Child finally returns.
Silence…chew, chew, chew…silence.
"What should we do about the blinds?"
Silence.
"No opinion?"
An opinion is barked; it includes the words 'lawsuit' and 'money back', as well as some euphemisms for words not to be spoken in front of children.

Finally, after another prolonged silence, two things happen which I believe are key to resolving Everybody’s Really Bad Day:
1) A couple of deep breaths are taken; there is an acknowledgement that everybody is, indeed, having a Really Bad Day. This recognition of foul emotion helps deflate the tension.
2) We treat ourselves: there was ice cream in the fridge; tonight is not the night to fight over vegetables and healthy portions. Eat a little main course, and get the sprinkles; let the serotonin do the work.

Eventually they fall asleep; we put on our pjs and flop onto the couch to stare at absolutely anything or nothing. We look at each other, and one of us regurgitates a very cathartic "Holy s%$t, that was nasty."
The other responds: "Yep, and it will all start again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next day."
Finally: "Nah, tomorrow will be better. Today was just bad timing, that's all."