Discussion starters are a great way to learn more about children, whether they’re our own or the kids God entrusts to our children’s ministry. Read one mom’s insights about discovering her son’s heart, and then download her list of questions to ask your kids at the bottom of this article.
Why Compile Questions to Ask Your Kids?
My son Asher is my pride and joy. Asher means “happy, fortunate, blessed,” and I can tell you he is all those things. He’s full of joy and always laughing. He has blessed my life.
Asher is in the superhero, Star Wars phase of life. He can talk your ear off about The Flash, Spider-Man, Yoda, and Kylo Ren. And I, in all my girly-goodness, listen patiently and try to fake interest. “But what is my son really thinking?” I often wonder. There must be more in that active mind than Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.
Recently I took Asher on a date, determined to get to know my son even more than I already do. We got dressed up and went to a lovely lunch. On the way, he talked about Batman and Robin and asked me all about the Joker. Once we arrived, however, I told him we couldn’t talk about superheroes during lunch. We had to talk about what I wanted to talk about.
Questions: A Parent’s Own Superpower
Armed with my list of questions, I was determined to get past the superhero section of Asher’s brain and into what he’s really thinking about life at age 7. You see, I’m looking into the future when the teenage years are upon us and Mom isn’t as cool as she is now. I want to develop a strong relationship with my son now so that when he’s older, he’ll come to me with his questions, his problems, his failures, and his successes without worrying about how I’ll react.
As I asked Asher questions, the best thing happened: He answered each one with honesty and excitement and then turned around and asked them back to me. My Star Wars fanatic actually cared what I thought!
We talked for over an hour at our little lunch date, and afterward we did some shopping. I assumed Asher would jump right back into Superhero Land. He didn’t.
