My mom was like a freakin' judge. She never hit me when she was angry. Instead, she told me "Son, you're going to get a spanking for that".
Then, she'd sit me down, tell me why what I did was wrong, why I had to be punished, and how many "licks" it rated. We'd march off to the bedroom and she'd make me bend over the bed and count off the whacks (seemed much worse at the time that it does now).
Needless to say, I have a highly honed sense of crime and punishment.
Dad was just there in case I ran. Though he left when I was 12 and told me at about 17 he was going to "beat my ass" for something I forget (I think I called his third wife a dribblin' slut or some such.. and she surely was).
I told him "Dad, you hit me and the only thing I promise you is that if I hit you hard enough to kill you it'll be an accident. Other than that we both know I can take you". Once we got that out of the way our relationship actually got better.. and the wife left him a year later..told you she was a slut..