Many people know Josh Hamilton as the centerfielder for the Texas Rangers, and as we’ve become increasingly outspoken some people may also know that several years ago his career almost ended because of drugs and alcohol. For three years Josh struggled, going in and out of rehab. Then Josh and I met, fell in love, got married, and now we have three beautiful daughters.

As parents we know that some day our daughters will ask us the question “Have you done drugs?” When that day comes, we want to be prepared with a strong answer. Read the Parent Talk Kit to learn how you can handle this question with your own kids.

As a mom or dad, you want to be the perfect role model for your kids, which makes it tough when they start asking questions about your past. We wish we could tell our children that we never experimented with drugs – but instead, we’ve realized that it’s important to let our kids in on our past mistakes.

As parents, we’ve learned that it’s important to be prepared for the tough questions so you can give your children a strong answer – that way, they won’t need to look elsewhere for advice. And, since we want to be the first people our kids come to when they’re curious about drugs, we’ve made a point of being open and honest with our children so that they know they can talk to us about anything. So far, it’s worked for us – we hope it can work for you too. Prepare yourself by visiting http://www.timetotalk.org/ParentTalkKit.

Good Luck,
Katie & Josh Hamilton
Parents of three girls. Josh Hamilton is the centerfielder for the Texas Rangers.

Information provided by:
The Partnership for a Drug-Free America
Working with parents to prevent and get help for teen drug and alcohol abuse.