Healthy Communication Starts at Home: Getting Kids to Talk, Teaching Them to Listen

As a mom of ten kids whose ages span 25 years, I will forever find the ironies of motherhood amusing. When kids are little, you can’t get them into bed; as teens, you can’t get them out. The same goes for the tub—elementary-age kids hate baths, while teenagers use every drop of hot water in their 45-minute showers. Conversation is no exception. The same young children who talk to me for almost an hour about Star Wars, Legos, or the dream they had last night can resort to one-word answers by the time they reach high school.