The last thing parents want is to get into power struggles with their children. But part of growing up involves testing limits and pushing boundaries, so it is perfectly normal for our kids to occasionally go against what we are asking them to do. We recommend you try to practice these 5 things during a power struggle:Stay calm. Not only are you modeling the behavior you want from them, but you will be in a much better position to convince them to calm down.Try to see the child’s viewpoint and empathize. Remember that kids want to feel like they are understood, that their feelings are being paid attention to and taken into consideration.Sidestep the power struggle. You don’t have to attend every power struggle to which you are invited.Invite cooperation through wish fulfillment and play. After you set your house rules, Goodtimer can help your child make the connection of making positive choices and earning incentives that matter to him when he follows the house rules you have set together.Empower your child with choices and by looking together for win/win solutions. Having your child flip over his Goodtimer on his own when a house rule is broken will help him understand he cannot earn Good Time until he decides to make amends to start earning Good Time again.Here are some tips to help maintain a struggle-free relationship (as much as possible):Make Empathy and Connection your go-to way of relating to your child. Remember that we all want to feel like we matter and are heard.Play daily to get your kids laughing. Laughing together strengthens the family bond.Make time for Special Time. This is something that can be part of your daily routine or it can be part of your token exchange system where your child exchanges tokens for special one-on-one time with mom or dad.Use Routines. This is fundamental to Goodtimer and why we incorporated house rules, so everyone in the house is on the same page when it comes to expected household behaviors.Welcome Emotions. We all have emotions, emotions are normal and it is normal for kids to struggle sometimes in dealing with their emotions. Let them vent.Remember, Goodtimer is a positive discipline tool and although every family has to do what works for them, we recommend that the focus be on reinforcing good choices rather than punishing the bad ones. In our experience, if the motivation is there and the kid gets to feel like they have a choice, they’ll eventually choose the positive outcome.