An Explanation

I apologize if my last post seemed harsh and although I don't feel the need to justify spanking to our readers, I felt an explanation would be nice (especially if my anonymous commenter is a friend or family member). I am not asking for anyone's approval and I'm certainly not saying that everyone should spank or that every child needs to be spanked. We have made the decision that if the punishment fits the crime and a good old fashioned swat on the butt is needed, then we will do it. Dane is an extremely strong willed child and we are seeing things improving with his listening and bullying, but I definitely think it's because we have spanked when necessary. It is not our first line of discipline and it doesn't happen very often, however it does happen sometimes and I stand by our decision to use that type of discipline when necessary. We don't beat him for goodness sake. We love our children dearly and want them to be well behaved, well mannered kiddos. Sometimes timeouts or scolding do nothing and we have to take the next step. Thanks for continuing to listen to my ramblings...several of you have asked what happened or what the comment was so I felt the need to explain my feelings on the topic. I am not asking for you to agree with every step we take as parents, but I am not judging you on the decisions you make for your family and I would hope the same respect is given to us. Thank you for all of you who have followed our blog and for all of the awesome support you've given us...from our struggle to conceive to becoming parents for the first time. We will undoubtedly make mistakes and we greatly appreciate advice if it's given in the correct manner but the comment we received that has been the basis for the last 2 posts was offensive and rude and I felt the need to say something about it.

Anonymous comments

To the anonymous commenter that ripped me a new one about spanking...anonymous comments are turned off because of you. If you are so proud of not spanking then let me know who you are, i would love to chat. There is nothing wrong with it...check the bible. As for being a redneck...ha ha you have no idea. This blog is for friends and family and is not public so I am not sure how you stumbled on it...I didn't start this blog to be judged by the masses, it is a journal of my life. If I offend you so much, don't read it.

Lakes Community High School Football

One of our college friends is the head football coach of a nearby high school. Before we had kiddos we would often go cheer him on, but we still try to make it to a game or two per season. Last evening we decided that Dane would love to go and Kale would be in bed around the start of the game. So we got a sitter for Kale and took Dane to the game. He LOVED it! Many of the coaches wives were there with their kids and we had a nice, grassy area that they could all run around and play. We had a few highlights for the evening...1. the stinky "stunk" we smelled on the way to the game (it was a skunk and he was obsessed and asked about it the rest of the night). 2. The "tiger's" mouth....the opposing team was the Cougars and when they came on the field they ran through the mouth of a cougar with lights flashing and smoke coming out. (Once again obsessed and talked about it all night). 3. His popcorn...kept walking away from playing with the kids to get his popcorn..."this my popcorn, mommy?"

Adventure Seeking

This past Saturday Cameron and I had a little belated anniversary getaway to Lake Geneva, WI. We chose this destination because it is close and convenient and we've always loved this little lake town...it's adorable and quaint with cute shops and great restaurants all on Geneva Lake. The other reason we chose this destination is because they now offer a ziplining excursion. We had always wanted to try it and should have in Costa Rica last year but didn't. It was a great time...we completed about 1.5 hours of actual ziplining once we were suited up and the brief instructional demonstration was over. Although the gear is anything but stylish, the ziplining itself was a blast. Cameron and I conquered "the beast" - an 840 foot line from takeoff to landing and also the 1200 foot racing line. I would recommend it to anyone and definitely look forward to doing it again, hopefully someday with the boys.

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Worst. Feeling. Ever.

Ugh...I did it, I left my child screaming and crying at school "Mooooommmmmmyyyyyy". Completely. Sucks. Not sure what is going on but on Tuesday we had a biting incident. The biter being Dane. I am in no way saying that he's innocent, he's not at all and he does have a tendency to be a bully. However, biting isn't usually his thing. The child he bit attempted to bite 3 kids when I was the room mom the previous Thursday. I am not sure what happened, the teacher and the room mom just saw Dane biting but don't know what happened to cause it. So...this morning he was all ready for school and excited. As soon as we walked into his classroom, he walked right over to the child he bit on Tuesday and shoved him to the floor. What the?!?! I grabbed him roughly and scolded him and the tears started. That is when he started saying he wanted to go home and didn't want to stay at school. The teacher said she wasn't aware of anything happening between the two of them or why Dane would be targeting this kid. Why does he despise this kid so much? I can say that this child seemed to be the problem child when I was in the class last Thursday, however I am afraid my child is now filling those shoes. We scold, we do time outs and we spank....what did you all do to correct a bully? Especially biting? I can deal with the pushing and hitting and chalk that up to him being 2, but the biting?!?! It's so vicious and I thought he was past the age where that would be a problem. Comments and / or advice welcome!

9/11/11

Wow...10 years and I still remember every minute of that morning like it happened yesterday as likely do all of you. I thought the world was ending. Not sure how many of you tuned in for the Bears game on Sunday, but that is something that is always on at the Hatten house. What an amazing opening! If you missed it, please watch it now...God Bless the USA!!

Luau 2011

Chicago hosts the largest grass volleyball tournament in the US every year. Cameron played in that tournament every year before we had kiddos but hasn't played for a few years. This year he was back at it and the boys & I went to watch! Dane was totally enthralled with the entire event. He had so much fun! Kale was just upset about his limited area to army crawl but he slept for some of it.

watching Daddy play:I just want to go go go!Amazing Views of the Windy City:Wiped Out!

Our Big Boys

Here is a short video of our boys...getting so big! Dane's first day of school and Kale army crawling everywhere! Where did the time go?

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And Now...Everything Changes

Today is Dane's first day of "school". We have placed Dane in a Mother's Morning Out program at a local church. He will be going every Tuesday and Thursday from 9:15-11:15. I get to be a parent helper once a month. There were many reasons we chose to put him in this year. Dane is a kiddo with more energy than any of the rest of us. Don't get me wrong, it's all a great thing but we thought it would help him immensely in starting official preschool next year if he sort of learned the ropes this year. We figured having that extra year of structure would be good for him. So...off he goes today. He is incredibly excited and packed his backpack last week. He has been talking about school for a month because all of the neighborhood kids are no longer around to play with all day and he keeps seeing the school busses. Plus he knows that Andon and Presley go to school so he is ready. Last Tuesday was the open house and he kept saying "mommy go to school with me" so I'm hopeful that he doesn't freak out when I leave him today. Generally he only gets upset if another child cries so we will see how this goes. I can guarantee that all of this will have me in tears way before it has him in tears. How did the past 2.5 years go by so quickly? I know this is good for him and likely for me too but I didn't think I would be letting go this soon...I feel like we just brought him home from the hospital! Will they know that he gets cranky and acts out when he's hungry? Will they know that tackling is fun to him and he's truly not being malicious? Will they know that even though he acts like a rough & tumble boy, he's also sensitive and gets his feelings hurt easily? I pray they figure it out very quickly. I know every little quirk that boy has and I know how to fix what's broken...they don't. How do you let them go when no one else knows them like you do?

I borrowed this from a friend's blog...it seemed very fitting (click on it to enlarge if you cannot read it):
This is the first step in a long line of letting go...and I can honestly say it kind of sucks. Stay tuned for pictures...

Another "First"

This time for Kale! Kale has [barely] sprouted his first tooth...bottom right. We knew he was working on some and I am pretty sure the other bottom front will be coming through any time. The big gummy grin that we all love so much is going to be leaving us soon....booooo! Kale is pretty funny right now in his determination to get around. He will get wherever he needs to go by scooting, army crawling and rolling. He is all over the floor but gets frustrated and whiny because he can't really move like he wants to. More and more he gets up on all fours and bounces and he can finally sit by himself for quite a while before toppling over. I cannot believe that Kale is quickly approaching the 7 month mark and I also cannot believe that Dane started crawling in September 2009. I am afraid that Kale will soon be adding that to his resume!

Two "Firsts" For Dane

Dane has recently had 2 "firsts"...his first ride on a motorcycle and the first time we let him be independent in the water. Our neighbor and resident firefighter is a "Harley man" in his off time and he stopped by and offered Dane a little ride around the neighborhood. As they were approaching our house after the first lap, I heard Dane say "again" and so off they went on one more lap. He loved it and wanted to get right back on when Dave dropped him off. The second "first" Dane had was in the pool. We let him swim completely independent of us (obviously with a life jacket on)...he was everywhere! He swam the entire length of the pool several times (clarification - his swimming is really dog paddling). He absolutely loved it! Sorry the video isn't very high quality - both were taken with my phone.

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