You know the scenario: You made it through the end-of-school line of cars to pick up your darling child, they toss their backpack in the boot and collapse in the car in a heap. You turn to them expectantly and ask them, “how was your day?” to which you get the response, “fine”. Maybe you even follow up with, “what did you do today?” to which you are met with, “nothing”. At this point, you are wondering why you even pay school fees if your kid does nothing all day!
You may be wanting some connection and to hear all about how their day went, but as far as they are concerned, the school day is over, and their brain is fried.
However, being able to ask the right questions often rewards us with more and better responses. Here are some ideas for ten questions that are better than “how was your day?”
- What happened today that made you smile?
- How would you rate your day on a scale of one to 10 and why?
- What is one new thing you learned today?
- What was the best food in your lunchbox?
- What was an act of kindness you saw today?
- What would you have changed about today if you could change one thing?
- How were you brave today?
- If you were the teacher, what would you have enjoyed teaching today?
- What is a problem you had today and how did you solve it?
- Do you want to go get ice cream on the way home? (just kidding! But not always a bad idea…)
Jocelyn Carolissen, College Pastor