TexasCHLforum.com

You're really anxious over the trip. You're wanting to be safe (ie, keep the loaded gun handy), yet you're also wanting to obey the law. Both make you a respectable citizen.

I'm guessing that your child will be riding in the backseat of the car. If so, just keep the loaded gun in either your glove box or console. Keep your proof of insurance in the opposite location. This way, if you have to show your proof of insurance at a traffic stop, the smoke wagon doesn't tumble out.

I don't think you'll have trouble, even in Harris Co. LEOs are familiar with people traveling with handguns. I've never run across one that had an issue with it, although I hear antis do exist in the ranks. Being a female with a young child, I think the chances of you getting any trouble from this are slim.

The final concern is for your child. Children are all different. Decide whether or not it is appropriate to tell her/talk to her about it. Keep her at a good distance from the gun. (ie, gun in glove box-- kid in back seat). Also, keep the safety on (if the gun has one) and keep it in a holster. (A $10 holster that simply covers the barrel entrance and trigger is sufficient for glove box carry.)

Finally, the dogs--
I don't think you'll have trouble with them. As a group, they're uninterested in firearms. A girl on another forum was having trouble with her little dog licking her guns, but he never got near the trigger.

Greybeard wrote:

One of my lady students from a few years back actually got a "sermon" (in lieu of a ticket) from an LEO when he learned that she had a CHL but did not have her gun with her.

That's priceless.