Guaranteed To Make Your Dinner Conversation Interesting

Want to guarantee that you’ll have an interesting dinner conversation? Ask your family (including your kids) some simple questions.

A few years ago I sat the kids down and asked them some questions. It was a way to take inventory of who we were as a family. I found the questions online somewhere and now I don’t remember where it was. However, I wrote down their answers and then saved the paper. I’m so glad I did. I found it again a month ago and was crying with laughter over the answers they had given.

So, here’s your assignment. Sit down with your family– everyone is included. Ask them these questions:

• What are the strengths of our family?

• What are Daddy’s(and then mom’s and all the kids) strengths?

• Finish this sentence:  “We are at our best when. . .”

• Finish this sentence: “We are at our worst when. . .”

• What can we do to serve each other?

• What are three things we could do better as a family?

• What makes us unique?

I promise you will learn something. I also promise that if you have young children, their answers will make you laugh. Make sure you write this down and put the paper somewhere you will not lose it.

2 years have passed since our family did this. So, you need to picture that it was answered by children who were 2, 5, and 6 1/2.  I’ll share the highlights.

Ethan’s strengths:

Science

Karate

Super hero

Audrey’s strengths:

Playing dolls

Sleeping

Loving others

Isaac’s strengths:

Playing in the bath

Getting into trouble.

Here’s what you need to know to paint this picture for you. Ethan has never in his life had a karate class. Ever. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen him “do karate”. So, that one was a bit of a surprise. The others are spot on.

The overall strengths of our family:

Loving people, karate (again– no one in our family knows karate), imagination, playing, science, sleeping and getting into trouble.

Let me leave you with my favorite list: The list of “Things we could do better at as a family“:

Not arguing

Not crying at restaurants

School

I am happy to report back that our family has improved on at least one of these items. I don’t think there has been crying in a restaurant in a very long time 🙂

Would you do me a favor and discuss some of these questions with your family and then report back here? I would LOVE to hear the insights you learned (particularly if you have children)!