5 things to ask your kids every day

Great article! I think I asked some of these to my kids when they came home, but not sure that I did all of them all of the time. Good to remember for when the Grandkids come over!
Good Night dear friends!

5 questions you should ask your child every day

By Lyndsi Frandsen, KSL.com Contributor

May 20th, 2015 @ 7:28pm

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Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com

 If you’re a parent, you probably suffer from “broken record” syndrome. You know, that habit we fall into of asking the same questions day after day. Pretty soon, that routine “how was your day?’ receives an equally predictable “fine!” as an answer.

A simple re-phrase of our daily questions can open up the door for deeper conversations and prompt our children to be more self-aware. So, take the needle off the record: Here are five alternative questions to spark better conversations with children of all ages:

1. “What was the best part of your day?”

This is a question you can pose to children of every age — from toddler to teen. From a selfish perspective, it allows you to almost feel a part of their brightest moments. From a parenting perspective, it gives you insight on the little things that are meaningful and make your child happy. And although the question itself is positive, it can often be a good way to identify whether your child had a not-so-great day (without giving off the impression that you are prying or requiring they relive a bad experience). This is a great starter question that can get the “conversation ball” rolling.

2. “What did you do today to make someone happy?”

It can be easy for children, no matter their age, to feel as though the world revolves around them. When you regularly ask your child about what they did for others, that challenge to think selflessly lingers in their little minds and (hopefully) leads to a greater sense of awareness toward others.

Eventually, they will begin to anticipate this question and even start to look for opportunities to be more kind and helpful to those around them. Maybe they will take notice of someone sitting alone at lunch, or have the courage to stand up for someone who is being treated unkindly. Not only does it make them more self-aware, but it also sets up an expectation that you have for them: to always be kind.

3. “Was there anything hard about your day?”

Maybe your child is nervous about how they did on a test, or having a hard time with friends. Perhaps they are feeling frustrated with a situation at home and don’t know how to approach you — maybe they just didn’t like what was served for lunch. (Come on, you remember the plastic pepperoni pizza.)

Regardless of the severity of their concern, inquiring about daily hardships can offer insight to daily anxieties and insecurities you may not even know exist. The phrasing of this question allows your child to feel safe and in control. Asking this question regularly provides multiple opportunities for your child to come to you on their own time. Today they might not want to talk about it — but tomorrow might be a different story.

4. “Who did you spend time with today?”

As an educator, I can attest: friends begin to play a very large part in your child’s world at a very young age. It is always important to know who your child is spending time with. This question not only gives you an idea of their friends, but can also offer valuable insight to whether or not your child is socially thriving or socially struggling. It may even make you more aware of what kind of friend your child is.

5. “What do you think you could do better tomorrow?”

This is a positive way to encourage your child to reflect upon their day and set goals to be even better tomorrow. It reminds your child to avoid complacency and always strive to improve. It might help to break or form habits (maybe they are always late to school, or maybe want to be more socially confident and make a new friend). It is also a great way to remind your child that tomorrow is a new day and a fresh start.

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About the Author: Lyndsi Frandsen

Lyndsi Frandsen is the creator of the Facebook page For All Momkind and author of the For All Momkind blog. She has many titles, including wife, kindergart

I found it Here:

What I wanted to be when I grew up!

My whole life I have always wanted to be a Mom when I grew up! That was really what I wanted more than anything. Now I realize that many other women have or had, that same dream but never got to fulfill it yet. So when I talk about Motherhood, I am not trying to be insensitive to any of those women, my heart aches for them and I pray for them!
Still I do believe the old saying " It takes a Village to raise a child " and since we have had 4 kids, I am eternally grateful for all those women out there...who have played such a big part in our kids lives!
When a friend sent me the questions and answers (below) from 2nd Graders about Mothers... I knew I had to share it. I love to hear the funny and inspiring things kids say. Oh how I wish I would have written down more of what my kids said, but I was so busy trying to raise them that I didn't write down a lot of them. And I am sorry to say that I don't remember a lot of them now!
 Yesterday while sewing with Jenny in my Studio ( ok, don't laugh ...but Sewing Studio does sound better and bigger than a Sewing Room doesn't it? ) anyway... I was frustrated trying to figure out something from the pattern I was working on. When I said out loud " I don't know what they mean? I need to figure this out, we need to be ready to go in just another hour! " I was really just talking out loud, but Jenny answered "Don't ask me Nana, I don't even know how to read yet! " Priceless!

 
Then my grandson Kai said this to his Mother the other day... " Mom, I'm going to play you a good song. It's about church, dinosaurs, and Jesus Christ" She said "Play away buddy, I've got to hear this song!"

So I truly feel like the only way to survive and enjoy Motherhood, is to really notice the small and simple things that are going on in your lives as a family. Humor has really saved us on more than one occasion! Take for example, we had most of the kids home a few of years ago and wanted to take a family photo. Lauren was still in Idaho at school, but since she is a photographer...we thought she could just photo shop herself in the picture....look at the results!

Serious, she did it but she totally looked more dressed up and together than all of us...that was the last time we ever tried that again! :)

Anyway, read these fun answers from these kids...it was too funny to read and it does touch your heart when you hear some of the things they say. 

Good day dear friends!

WHY GOD MADE MOMS

Answers given by 2nd grade school children to the following questions:

Why did God make mothers?

1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.

2. Mostly to clean the house.

3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.

How did God make mothers?

1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.

2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.

3. God made my mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger parts.

What ingredients are mothers made of?

1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.

2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly use string, I think.

Why did God give you your mother and not some other mom?

1. We're related.

2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's mom like me.

What kind of a little girl was your mom?

1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.

2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.

3. They say she used to be nice.

What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?

1. His last name.

2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?

3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?

Why did your mom marry your dad?

1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.

2. She got too old to do anything else with him.

3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.

Who's the boss at your house?

1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.

2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.

3. I guess mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.

What's the difference between moms and dads?

1. Moms work at work and work at home and dads just go to work at work.

2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.

3. Dads are taller and stronger, but moms have all the real power cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friends.

4. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.

What does your mom do in her spare time?

1. Mothers don't do spare time.

2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.

What would it take to make your mom perfect?

1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.

2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.

If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?

1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.

2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it not me.

3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on the back of her head.
Read it HERE:

Great Date Night!

I was pretty worn out by this evening, so when Jeff suggested that we go to the movies for our Date Night, I said yes right away!

We went to the movie Hugo, it was amazing and a great movie for everyone. Not often can you say that about very many movies.

Hugo tells the tale of an orphan boy living a secret life in the walls of a Paris train station. When Hugo encounters a broken machine, an eccentric girl, and the cold, reserved man who runs the toy shop, he is caught up in a magical, mysterious adventure that could put all of his secrets in jeopardy.

The message behind it was absolutely inspiring…

Hugo Cabret: I'd imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn't be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason too.

I hope you might get to go see it for this Holiday Season.  Good night dear friends!

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”   ~ Albert Einstein

“A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.”  ~ John Barrymore

“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.”   ~ Walt Disney

Unusual Answer

I am always amazed at how some answers seem so hard to find, and then others ( ones that are unusual or unexpected ) just seem to find you. We have been worrying, studying, asking, testing and praying for answers to our son's stomach attacks. He first has about 5 minutes of warning where he feels nauseated, and then he crumples over on the floor and had incredible pain and cramping. This has been off and on, for over a year and a half now. He has had ultra sounds, CT scans, MRI and blood and urine tests, and all with the same results or answers...every thing looks normal, no explanation for his problem.

As I have mentioned it is terribly hard to see your kid in pain, but worse not to know why? We have had a lot of sleepless and worrisome nights, but still no answers. Then the other day our chiropractor email us and  wrote this...

"There was something I was hoping you might consider, and something you can do a little home research on.  When Lee was in the other day I was asking him about his psoas muscle.  It’s a muscle that runs from the lower back, down through the inside of the hip to the front top of the leg.  The muscle is the main flexor of the hip. There is a group of nerves that run down the front of that psoas muscle and innervate that area.  When this muscle is spasming or contracted, it can cause fairly severe pain in the abdomen and groin.  It can also cause deep and dull lower back pain.  If you do some searching under psoas contracture you’ll find reports where it can replicate appendicitis as well.
I was asking Lee a bit about that muscle the other day, and when I pointed out where it was located he said that was right where his pain starts.  I asked him where else he felt it, but he said he hurt so much that he doesn’t think a whole lot about it when it’s going on.  If it is the psoas, and he did think about it, I’m guessing he probably gets groin pain when he has his attacks.  When that particular muscle contracts, it generally causes the hip to flex and the knee to move toward the chest.  If it is only happening on one side the trunk usually rotates to the involved sign.  Basically, it can kind of double you up."

So we aren't completely out of the woods yet, but Lee is having smaller attacks and hopefully after a few psoas muscle release appointments, it will heal it's self. Now the only reason I put this information out there, is because I can't believe how far off we were on the ANSWER and even the QUESTIONS. I knew what a psoas muscle was, but only because mine is short and tight and my PT works on doing the muscle releasing on mine, to help my lower back. I have never heard that it can spasm like that, and all this time we thought it was one of Lee's organs, wow! So I share this just in case this ever happens to anyone else you know. I guess it is fairly common among athletes and especially those athletes who have groin injuries.

I feel bad that we put him through all those tests, but yet we sorta had to go through the process of elimination. Thank goodness for a chiropractor who cared and was paying attention, we hadn't even really talked to him about it, but when Lee came in last week, he talked to him about it and about his low back pain. That is when our chiropractor first thought, maybe we were looking down the wrong road. Amazing, simply amazing!
So now we will remember to look for the not so obvious answers and be ready to look into more the unusual answers! Plus, we are very grateful that answers are at least coming now!

Good night!

"Asking the right questions takes as much skill as giving the right answers."  ~ Robert Half

" Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple." ~ Dr. Seuss

"Prayer is not merely an occasional impulse to which we respond when we are in trouble:  prayer is a life attitude."  ~Walter A. Mueller