“How was your day?”

“Fine.”

Good talk. Let’s do it again tomorrow.

If you’re like me, you come home and ask your son or daughter the standard question: “How was your day?” If your child is like mine, you get the polite but monosyllabic response: “Fine.”

But, we can’t be satisfied with this. I don’t know about you, but I crave a lot more information about my son’s day than, “fine.” Five days a week, while I’m at the office, I miss out on the joys, the sorrows, the new discoveries, the challenges and the triumphs. So, these post-workday interviews are the way I can relive these special moments with him, but also get to really know my son; get to know what’s important to him, how he feels about things and the way he thinks. If you’re getting by on “fine,” you’re missing out.

Years ago, when my son could actually carry on a conversation with me, I created a new “tradition” in the line of questioning. As we prepare for bedtime, I ask him two questions every single night:
– What was the best part of your day?
– What’s something you learned today?

But, it got me thinking, what are some other questions we can ask our children that will encourage a more robust discussion. Of course, you don’t have to ask them all of these every day, but add them to your set list. Here’s what I came up with:

1. What’s something that made you laugh today?
2. Who did you play with today?
3. What made you feel loved today?
4. What made you feel happy today?
5. What made you feel sad today?
6. What made you feel proud today?
7. If you were the teacher of your class tomorrow, what would you teach?
8. If you could have changed one thing about your day today, what would it be?
9. What are you excited about tomorrow?
10. What questions did you ask at school today?
11. What is something you’ve been thinking about?
12. What’s something nice you did for somebody else today?
13. What’s something that was difficult for you today?
14. What’s something new you want to learn how to do?
15. Who had the best food at lunch today? What was it?
16. What superpowers could you have used today, and how?
17. How did you help somebody today?
18. What’s something you saw or heard about today that you want to know more about?
19. What is something new you learned today that you didn’t know yesterday?
20. What kinds of things do you think I did today while you were at school?