4 Important Questions to Ask Kids at Bedtime
I love my kids, but by bedtime, I’m just exhausted. At 8pm, my patience shuts off. It’s like I have some sort of glitch in my mommy code, or maybe I just missed the patience upgrade with each kid or something?
So when I have to jump through so many drinks-of-water hoops, tickle hoops, tuck-in hoops, bedtime-song hoops, pee-pee hoops, and brush-your-freaking-teeth-already hoops, I feel that if they don’t get away from me as soon as possible, I’m going to jump through the I’ve-lost-my-mind hoop and escape into a dimension where only brownies, beaches, and books exist.
But that’s not reality! (Oh how I wish it was sometimes though—minus the losing my mind hoop). The reality is that motherhood doesn’t stop at 8pm. And even though some of the hoops I jump through annoy me, there are four hoops that I would never miss jumping through no matter how tired or impatient I feel…The 4 questions to ask kids at bedtime.
I started asking my kids these four questions every night and it has changed our relationship. It has brought us closer. It has created a more positive shift in their focus throughout their day and in mine.
4 Questions to Ask Kids at Bedtime
1. What was your favorite part about your day?
This question allows us to jump through the hoop of positivity together. It helps my children focus on the best parts of their day, and gives us another opportunity to reflect on them, laugh even more about them, and find joy in those special moments one more time before they close their eyes.
2. What was your least favorite part about your day?
This question allows us to jump through the hoop of reality together. No one is perfect. Everyone makes mistakes, so it’s great to have the opportunity to be real and talk about those things in their day that didn’t go well—bad choices, disrespect, being irresponsible. This question has allowed for me to model unconditional love and has given me many second-chance teachable moments. Even if I lost my temper the first time around, I have one more chance to walk them through what they should have done differently. It’s great for kids to be reminded that tomorrow is a new day to try again.
