10 Questions to Ask Your Parents

First, a question for you: When’s the last time you skipped the small talk with the elders in your life? When it comes to the people we see as caretakers, it’s easy for a one-sided dynamic to set in: They ask. You answer. But it shouldn’t take Mother’s or Father’s Day for you to express appreciation for and interest in the lives of the people who have made you you. Ask some questions of your own, and you might be surprised by what you learn. Here’s a list get you started.

1. How are you? [No one word answers allowed!]

2. What is something you’re looking forward to?

3. If you had the time, the resources, and the skills to pick up any hobby or activity right now, what would be and why?

4. Are there any things you’ve read, watched, or listened to that have had a significant impact on your worldview or the person you are today?

5. Think about moments in your life where you felt really proud of yourself. What were they?

6. What is something about you that you wish the people who care about you knew that they don’t already know?

7. What qualities do you admire about yourself?

8. Of all the changes you’ve seen happen in the world over the course of your life, which have given you the most joy or hope?

9. What was the last thing that made you smile?

10. If you could go back in time to when you were my age, what would you tell yourself? Bonus: Can you tell me, too!?

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten from an elder in your life?