Tell Them Stories :: day 12
2012
Day 12 of Communicating with our Children :: Tell Them Stories
A beautiful way to connect with our children is to tell them stories from our own childhood – a way to draw the heartstrings a little tighter, to share lessons learned from our own youth, to share funny stories, to let our children know we were once just like them.
I shared a little bit more of my thoughts in the post Love and Storytelling so I thought today I would address a very practical need when it comes to wanting to tell them stories; what do we tell them? The hardest part of storytelling is remembering the stories to tell.
I have made up a list of twenty questions or thoughts to help trigger memories from your own childhood to share with your children. Read through the list and pick out one or two that inspire a memory from your childhood. Then at bedtime or while driving around tell the story to your children.
1. A reoccurring dream you had as a child.
2. A favorite meal or snack you loved – maybe something packed in your lunch for school, or at home with the family, or at a friends.
3. A time you had to tell someone you were sorry for something you had done wrong.
4. A gift you received that stands out. (This question alone has provided me with plenty of stories!)
5. A story about an older family member that was passed on to you.
6. Something you bought with your own money. And something you wanted to buy with your own money but didn’t.
7. Your favorite holiday.
8. Your list of chores and responsibilities as a child.
9. Your favorite book. (and if you don’t own this book, you can buy a copy and read it to your kids too!)
10. Who your neighbors were, how often you interacted with them, what they were like.
11. Your relationship with coffee as a child. Were you allowed to drink it? Did you care to?
12. Anything you collected or hobbies you had.
13. Memories from common places around town, playground, grocery store, post office, etc.
14. Memories from favorite vacations.
15. The fad toys that you owned. The fad toys you wished you owned.
16. Something you learned in school because of a creative teacher.
17. Interactions with wildlife.
18. A fear you had.
19. What you wanted to be when you were a grown up.
20. Something you learned to do on your own.
Day 12 of 31 Days of Communicating With Our Children. Click here to see all posts in this series.
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