You're fucked up in the head. Who cares if they're brats? Who's the fucking adult here? If you have to resort to hitting like a child, christ, what have we devolved to. Who cares how stressed the parents are? They still need to exhibit self control. Big picture, end game. Longterm, violence begets violence. Sure, short term, it's gets their attention but longterm it teaches them that adults solve things with violence. And we wonder why we have so many criminals.