Alternatives to Asking “How Was Your Day?”

So often when I asked my kids in the carpool line, "𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘺?," I got the infamous shrug or if I was lucky, a "𝘐𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘔𝘰𝘮" in an annoyed tone of voice.

Rather than resign to hearing absolutely nothing about their days, I started getting creative.

𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝟭-𝟱, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚?

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚, 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙮?

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮?

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙠 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖 𝙥𝙞𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙮?

Slowly, moments from their day started to emerge. A funny classroom quip. A recess drama. A lunch room saga.

Slowly, through patience and creativity, I was able to get a glimpse into their day at school.

That doesn't mean I still don't hear sighs and get eye rolls when I ask them to rate their days. But, after the annoyance wears off, they usually say quietly, "𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 4 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺, 𝘔𝘰𝘮. 𝘞𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘺?"

Cultivating connection, one groan and eye roll at a time.

How do you cultivate connection in the car or at the dinner table? I'd love to hear!

Love,

Christy