At Midtown Starbucks we joined up with Jo and the children and let the girls run riot there for a while before moving on to the park, where we met Bettina and Tim. Soon Emily and I had to dash off to meet Nick for a quick picnic lunch, then we went straight back to Midtown, where we found that the others were just finishing their lunch. The three children drove the many other people on the decked area crazy running around and yelling and I had to give Emily a smack when she defied me and picked a flower despite me telling her what the consequence would be ('if you take one more flower I will have no choice but to smack you - do you really want me to do that?' .'Yes'). It is only the third time I have given her a smack and the other times were with a nappy to cushion her buttocks, but I suppose I didn't do it that hard anyway with so many people around. She didn't cry at all, and therefore I have probably weakened the threat of it for next time. I need to find a more effective way to discipline on the relatively few occasions it is necessary with our normally angelic little girl.
Jo took off with a sulky Isy and a sleeping Cooper and Bettina and I took Emily and Tim back down into the park area. They spent ages at the fountains (Emily soon stripping off after Tim took his kit off).
I felt uncomfortable about people seeing her naked but I'm sure I spent a lot of time undressed at her age and no-one would have thought anything of it then. After that we took them to the landscaped area where they played Poohsticks and pretended to fish with long willow sticks.
Tim went into meltdown at snack time so Bettina took him home, and we left soon after. Emily seemed close to nodding off so, desperate to stave off a nap, I suggested a bus ride home, which did perk her up. Unfortunately we had to wait more than 20 minutes for the bus, though once aboard it got us home quickly enough.
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