Why is it that when you really need kids to do something quickly, they choose that time to move in slow-motion? Late for an early morning meeting? Jr. suddenly takes twenty minutes to find his tennis shoes and needs help on his homework. Trying to have a quick dinner before dance practice? Little Jessica decides to eat her peas one at a time with her fork and afterward, clears the table with a pace that would make a snail look fast. Trust me, you are not alone in this most common of parenting issues.

When your child stalls, it is a way for her to exercise a form of power over her own life. Unfortunately for you, but intoxicating to her, stalling also drastically affects your life. Since you both have to be somewhere at a certain time, her stalling creates problems for everyone involved. Annoying? Yes. Diabolical? No. This is an immature power struggle, not a personality defect.

If you have a youngster who stalls, it’s likely linked to your own anxious need to make her punctual. This has undoubtedly become a battle between the two of you, which means it’s not really about stalling. This battle is about whose life belongs to whom, and it’s only going to get worse the more you dig in. So, take a look at the following principles and see how they can directly relate to this most frustrating of behaviors:

1. What kids need most are parents who do not need them. I know this sounds weird, but our own need for our kids to comply communicates messages contrary to what you want. When we need them, we are saying "Mommy or Daddy are not in control of their own emotions, you are"; "your behavior is the driving force in this family"; "your immaturity is very powerful".

In contrast, when we no longer need our kids to behave a certain way, when we no longer need their cooperation in order for us show self-control, then we communicate three very different messages: "Mommy and Daddy cannot be manipulated by your emotional outbursts (we're bigger than that)"; "your behavior has consequences for you that you (not anyone else) will have to deal with"; "power is found in self-control, not neediness or immaturity".

2. Practice Paradox Parenting (or Push the Pause Button). Usually the best thing to do in a stalling situation is the thing we least want to d slow down. Slow down your speech, your movements, your breathing. Lower your volume. You’ll be surprised how much more they listen to you when they have to be more still to hear you. When you feel the pit of your stomach tighten as the clock ticks toward bedtime and your daughter asks for just “one more” story, take a really deep breath and ask yourself: How do I want to behave? Do I want to roll my eyes and give in over and over until she blows up and everyone ends up crying? No. I’d much rather feel good later about how I acted. I’d prefer to gently hug my daughter and calmly tell her that this will be the last story and if she gets out of bed again she will lose one of her toys to timeout for a day or two.

The bottom line: slowing down or pushing pause gives you the space to be creative and act the way you want to act, instead of acting just as immaturely as your child. If you want to set some consequences for your daughter not getting ready or going to bed on time, then do so calmly. If you want to grant her some space to stay up in her bed, do so without regret or resentment. The goal here is to not let her version of a tantrum create one of your own, but rather to respond in a calm and connected way.