With gardening season upon us, has it ever occurred to you that many of the lessons we learn while growing plants can easily be applied to parenting? Weeding – or plucking out problems – takes constant attention. It doesn't matter what kind of garden you are tending; you can't deny the existence of weeds. There are several ways to stop them or slow them down, but it's something you inevitably have to deal with. If you ignore them, they can grow extensive root systems and take over your garden.

Weeds rear their ugly head in parenting too. Depending on the age of the child, weeds can appear as anything from temper tantrums and biting to profanity and hanging out with the "wrong crowd." Just as with garden weeds, you have to pluck these problems out right away, or they will become commonplace and more difficult to get rid of.

"We try very hard as parents to make sure that our children are around positive role models," says Pamela Wilhelm, a mother of three from Georgia. "We also work hard to make sure they do not have the chance to linger or be exposed to bad influences: TV, song lyrics, family fighting, profanity and things of that nature."

"Communication is the key," says Carla Johnson, mother of four and elementary educator for 13 years in Becker, Minn. "When they want to talk to you, do everything you can to listen right now. When I told my mom how overwhelming this was for me some nights, she told me, 'How lucky that you are the one they want to talk to and share with.' And how true that is. If you listen to them now, they'll want to talk to you later."

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