Let me clarify. After ten years together, we still have plenty to discuss. But like many couples with children, we don't get much chance to actually talk. Our 8-year-old daughter burns with the desire to join in every adult conversation. Our 5-year-old son is prone to bursting loudly into song at the dinner table. Between the two of them, the two of us don't stand a chance.

What's a couple to do? For answers, Family Life turned to parenting pros as well as formerly discussion-starved parents who have found smart strategies for getting a word in edgewise.

Susan Korones Gifford is a writer and editor who lives in New Jersey with her husband and two talkative kids.