Back to base in one piece

Poor little Emma. She may be nearly three, but still the youngest member of the household works hard everyday in the playgroup, distributing felt shapes, collecting cardboard steering wheels from toddlers after "Wheels on the Bus" and gets a full aerobic workout thanks to daily doses of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" and "Hokey Cokey". So, after lessons this afternoon, I thought it would be nice to take her out with her sister to the big playground by the lake. She loved it, of course, and enjoyed sitting in the back seat of the shopping bike to get there. But on the way back home, her eyelids got heavy and I felt her head slump forward into the small of my back, like a bomber rear-gunner knocked out by enemy bullets. The journey back to base became a perilous one as I had to steer the suddenly unresponsive craft over difficult terrain, conscious that if I hit any turbulence my casualty would plummet to the ground. We limped home, escorted by Katherine, but after a good two hours' R&R, Emma was fine, just a little grumpy because she thought she had missed dinner.