Talking With Your Children
Talking With Your Children
How much time do you spend talking with your children?
I don't mean, "How was your day?" or "What do you have for homework?" or "Did you clean your room?"
I mean an honest to goodness conversation about some random topic. A chance to talk, explore and get a glimpse of how your children think. Time spent talking with your children can be very enlightening. You might think you know how they would respond to a random question. But, you may be very surprised to find out what they actually have to say!
In order to encourage you to spend time talking with your children, I thought I would start a list of possible topics you could explore:
1. What do you want to do when you grow up? Why?
2. Do you want to get married? Have kids? Why or why not?
3. If you could change the world, what would you do?
4. What super power would you like to have? What would you do with it?
5. If you could meet anyone (in the present or the past,) who would it be? Why?
6. If you where going on a trip and could only take 3 things, which ones would you take?
7. Do you think there are such things as flying saucers/aliens? What if you saw one?
8. Why do you think there are trees? Flowers? Bugs?
9. If you could invent something, what would it be?
10. What's your favorite movie? Hero? Villain?
11. What is your favorite kind of story? Your favorite book?
12. Why are there wars? What could we do to stop war?
13. What is your favorite color? What would you like to paint with that color?
14. If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish? (No wishing for more wishes!)
15. What do you think G-d looks like?
16. What do you like about yourself? Don't like? What would you like to change?
17. What are you good at? Not so good at? What would you like to be good at?
18. If you were president, what would you do?
19. What is your favorite food? Drink? Dessert? Fruit? Veggie?
20. If you were teacher for a day, what would you do?
21. What is your favorite subject?
22. What kind of house do you want to live in when you grow up? What kind of car do you want?
23. What would you do if you could go back in time?
24. What would you want to know if you could travel into the future?
25. What's the happiest experience you ever had? The saddest? The scariest? Biggest surprise?
26. What are some of your dreams? Goals?
27. If you were famous, what would you be famous for?
28. (Add your own.)
29. (Add your own.)
30. (Add your own.)
Obviously, this list is, by no means, exhaustive. I am sure that you can think of many other questions to put on this list. It might even be fun to ask your children what questions they would put on the list to ask you! (For instance, they might want to know how you met, why you married, why you picked the job you have, etc.)
These are the kind of conversations you can have around the dinner table--with parent participation, please--or in the car, during bath or bedtime, etc. These are the kinds of things that we rarely stop and explore with our children. And, I bet you'll be surprised at some of the responses. (You might try to guess ahead of time, and see if you are right!)
There are all kinds of questions, formats, techniques and opportunities to have these kinds of discussions. And it's a great way for your children and you to get better acquainted, and discover different dimensions of the people you think you know so well.
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