8:01 p.m.

[ A little understanding here... ]

It may never happen again because I stand by what I say here, but I feel the need to clarify something I said in my last entry, lest it create the wrong impression.

When I say I smacked Trent's bottom, I do not mean that he was beaten. I would NEVER do such a thing. To smack his bottom was the last resort, used only after repeatedly trying to get him to stop stripping off his diaper by telling him no firmly and putting him in the playpen for time-outs. I do not think it's okay to beat or abuse a child. It is okay to smack their bottoms occasionally when nothing else reinforces the message you're trying to send.

I do not, not now and will never, beat my children. Having been beaten as a child I could never bring myself to do that.