Here’s a repost of a blog I wrote nine years ago today that is even more important in today’s digital world of relational distractedness…
The other day my 14 year old Bren and I were essentially stranded in our mini-van for an hour, fully expecting to be bored. On a whim, I said five words that transformed our time into one of our most meaningful conversations ever!
“Let’s ask each other questions.”
It was that simple. What followed was a journey through our private worlds that built a bridge between us. For a solid hour we took turns asking each other questions that we were curious about. We both came away so excited about our conversation that we told the rest of the family what happened. Since then, I tried it on a car ride with Lexi, my 11 year old with equal success. Here are some samples of the kinds of questions we shared and that you could share with your kids…
“What was something fun that you did in college?”
“What’s one thing you’re not so good at?”
“What do you think of dating?”
“What’s do you think is one of Mom’s greatest character qualities?”
“What do you like most about being a pastor?”
“What is it about track that you like?”
I encourage you to try saying these 5 powerful words to your kids (or maybe your spouse!) when you have a little spare time together.
2017 update:
We used these five words often over the past nine years, but always in one-on-one settings. Recently, Cindy and I tried using them with a student who is staying with us –a threesome! We each took turns asking the other two questions for the good part of an hour. So we discovered it also works in groups of three (presumably more as well!) It was super fun and even Cindy and I learned things about one another we hadn’t known.
In today’s digital age, let’s not default to social media consumption or electronic entertainment. There’s a lot we can learn from each other through such face to face inquisitiveness!
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