OK PARENTS! Here's a good one for ya!!

Here's the situation: We were invited (last minute notice, because our invitation was returned to sender)to a birthday party for a schoolmate of my 5yr old. I didn't realize until we got there that swimsuits were needed and there was a huge waterslide for the kids to play on. My daughter was heartbroken. Well, I would have gone back home to get it, if the party wasn't 20 minutes away from my house! After much sulking, crying, pouting, and pure heartwrenching agony, I finally convinced her that it was OK to get wet in her clothes! No Problem-o! Plan B was finally working! She was happily sliding down in her clothes, and loving it! For nearly an two hours straight, the kid was blissfull as she enjoyed the slide, the pinata, the cookie cake, the opening of the presents and then MORE SLIDING, an absolute birthday bash! So when it finally came time to leave, I started with the warnings...30 minutes: "It's getting time to leave, so get be ready", and "you've got 5 minutes!", and finally "This is the last time to slide, then we're going". Well, it's totally normal for kids who are having the time of their short little lives to not be ready to go...but, is it totally normal for them to completely fall apart when the time comes? Wait! Before you answer, read on and see what happened, and then tell me what you think!!
So anyway, my dear daughter begans crying (very loudly) and fussing that she doesn't want to leave, and I am getting more and more aggrivated with her, so I kneel down to her eye level and very sternly tell her (in more than one way!) to stop screaming. She is covered in grass, and I'm not sure if she's trying to get grass out of her mouth, or if this was her bad behavior getting worse, but she spit at me! At this point, I am beyond aggrivated!! I am teetering on the edge of anger, heading to being furious! I promptly put my hand over her mouth (and I think you know what I mean!!!), and tell her not to EVER do that again!!! We walk over to gather our belongings, and I no more than turn around to grab my keys out of a chair when I feel something hitting the back of my leg-IN MULITPLE PLACES!!! I hear the adults around me all let out a big gasp, and I realize what has happened. My dear daughter, whom I love with all my heart, but at this moment, I could send to the MOON....HAS KICKED MUD ALL OVER THE BACK OF MY PANTS!!! At this moment, the aggrivation is long over, anger has been far surpassed, furious doesn't even begin to explain it!I AM BEYOND LIVID!!! Well, I am a parent who believes in spanking (sorry for all you who don't-but deal with it!) She got a spanking right there in front of the few adults who were still watching, and we immediately left, after saying a quick apology and thank you to the dear friend who invited us! I think it must have been at that moment that my she realized how mad Mom was. She began apologizing, which I readily accepted, but it certainly didn't take away my anger!
So, I GROUNDED HER! YEP! CINDERELLA STYLE! She sat in timeout on her bed for over an hour(I usually do the "one minute for every year of life" rule that is spelled out in the Parenting magazines, etc, but this one required much more than that!), she was not allowed to lay down in her bed, because that would mean comfort! She would only fall asleep or play, and I'm trying to drive home that she is being punished. So she was forced to sit! It may have taken an hour of time out because that is how long it took for me to calm down, but I could see it was working. When I finally let her up, she again apologized. I explained the punishment...no TV for the rest of the day, no toys, no books, no music, nothing. She had to clean the house. YEP! I TOLD YOU IT WAS CINDERELLA STYLE! Only this Cinderella didn't get to go to the ball, she stayed home, and I made her clean her room, gather her laundry, (things I make her do anyway, but this time, it was harder-no help from mom!). When all that was done, she had to scrub the bathroom floor by hand with a washcloth, then we moved to the walls, then the sink, and last the toilet! (I thought she was going to gag at the toilet!) Finally, it was 7:30 pm, still daylight outside, but she went to bed! I know it was tough, and believe it or not, it was tough on me too, but this was one punishment I HAD TO CARRY THROUGH!
So, at this point, I can only hope I did the right thing...I may never know. All I do know is, that I think I handled it right, and I don't have any regrets. Hopefully it made a big enough impression on her that she won't behave like that EVER AGAIN!
(big breath in...haaaaaa. I feel better now.) I am done ranting for this post. Until next time!
J