I found a wonderful article written by a school prinicipal, Patricia O'Leary, at Parentnews.com.  She discusses ways for parents to communicate more successfully with their children. 

"Communicating effectively with children is dependent upon learning to be a good listener. Although parents hear children talking every day and carry on conversations with them, good communication is not always taking place."

"When your child talks, make an effort to really listen. Stop whatever you are doing, establish eye contact and pay attention to what your child is saying. Quite often what is said between the lines is just as important as the words being spoken."

The rest of the article can be found at:

http://www.parent.net/article/archive/commun.shtml