One Question Deeper: Parents & Teens

How was school? Fine. That exchange has never once been a conversation.

Less interrogation. More conversation.

280 questions and 560 follow-ups for conversations that go both ways, and the both-ways part is the whole design. Many of these questions are built to be turned around: the teen asks, the parent answers, and the parent answers honestly.

Eight sections: Just Talk to Me, Your World My World, Friends & Fitting In, Who I'm Becoming, Home & Family, The Things We Don't Say, Freedom & Trust, and What's Ahead.

Questions are marked by depth, so you can pick the room you are actually in. Three circles for easy, on a car ride. Two for real, when there is time. One for deep, when something needs saying.

What made you laugh today, even a little? What is a strength of yours that doesn't show up on any report card? What is a time I was disappointed in you that you're still thinking about?

Every question carries two follow-ups, because the second question is where people start to feel seen. Each also carries a cue for the listener: what to watch for while the other person answers.

Two rules make it survivable for both of you. Both people answer, so it never becomes an interrogation. And either person may skip anything, anytime, with no explanation owed. The pass is not a failure; it is what makes the rest possible.

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