How were you raised vs. how you raise your kids?

I find with this question that most people raise their kids opposite of how they were raised. Personally, I'm one of those people. Don't get me wrong, I love my parents and appreciate them wholeheartedly, but they never took time to listen to me or explain why I'm wrong in doing what I did. They just hit me or screamed or grounded me. Now, I make sure that my kids fully understand what they did is wrong and why they are being sent to time out, or why they are getting something taken away. I NEVER hit my kids, I feel that it's wrong, doesn't teach the kids what they did was wrong, but rather promotes violence. There will be many parents who disagree with me on that, some of my closest mommy friends do their kids, but I personally don't from my own experiences. How about you mommies? Do you think your parents' discipline methods are great, or are you rather thankful they taught you how NOT to raise your kids?