STANWOOD - Snohomish County sheriff's deputies have arrested a man accused of spanking his children with a stick. A Marysville day care manager reported Tuesday that a 5-year-old boy had severe bruising on his buttocks. Police reported that the child had several 4-inch black and blue marks. The boy told police that his father had hit him "a lot of times" with a stick, according to an affidavit filed Thursday in Everett District Court. Child Protective Services removed the boy and his 4-year-old sister from their home in the 5400 block of 332nd Street NW. The children reported that their father hit them because they disobeyed his orders to stay off their bikes, police wrote in court documents. Social workers also saw bruises on the girl. Their mother told police that she and her husband were having difficulties with their children last weekend. The boy and girl ignored their parents' warnings to stay away from a fire pit and horses on the farm, according to court records. The woman told police her husband hit the children with a foot-long stick, measuring about an inch thick. She said she hadn't noticed the bruises. The woman told police that the man had used the stick in the past to spank the children. The man, 42, told police he had hit the boy and girl. He said he'd been physically disciplined as a child and didn't know it was wrong, according to court documents. He later told police he was frustrated and angry when he hit the children. [Emphasis added.] Detectives arrested the man for investigation of second-degree assault of a child. Reporter Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463 or hefley@heraldnet.com.