Friday, June 28, 2013

Summer Questions: How Old Would You Be...?

I like getting our kids' insight on different things and then recording them for posterity.  In the past, I've used different resources or just made up random questions to get them thinking.  Recently, I stumbled on this website that has various open-ended questions and since the whole point is to get their brains moving, I'll be pulling from this list over the summer and sharing answers with you here for fun.  The questions are not specifically written for kids so if anything needs to be adjusted to make more sense from a child's perspective, I'm giving myself license to do that.  I'll label each of these posts with SummerQ so you can easily find any you have missed or reread the good ones in the future.

I probably won't restate this on every post, but so you know, I ask the kids the questions individually and privately so they are not influenced by the answers given by their siblings.  I try to record their exact words as accurately as possible.  I do not give them hints about how to answer these questions or give specific leading inflections when I ask them a question so that I might generate a particular response from them.  If they don't understand the question, they are free to just answer "I don't know."  Generally speaking though, our kids like sharing what's on their minds, so we usually get some unique and interesting replies.

Occasionally, I do the mom thing and feel the need to elaborate or explain something in their responses and you'll know that I'm the one talking if you see anything in parentheses after their answer.  I try to let their answers stand alone, but sometimes people who don't live in our house need some back-story or additional information to truly appreciate each child's insight.

For my readers who enjoy challenging their own minds, feel free to comment with your own answers to these questions or ask a child in your life and share their answer here or on your own blog.  If you blog something similar, I'd love to provide a link for people, so let me know!  Thanks so much for being part of our ongoing summer conversations.

Okay, on with the first question...



Today's question: How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are? (I followed up with the question: Why?)

H (he's 13): Twelve because being a teenager is hard.

Z (he's 11): I'd say about 12 because of my height.

J (she's 8): I'd be 15 because I want to be a teenager and be in youth group.

O (he's 8): I'd be 16 because then people won't laugh at me and I could go to youth group.


---
Age is like a roll of toilet paper; the closer to the end it gets, the faster it goes.
- Author Unknown - 


2 comments:

  1. Yay! I like these. Maybe I can ask D's girls some and post them in my blog. Like I'm taking over her kids or something. :P

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  2. Very interesting: you ask each child the questions separately, yet both J and O chose older ages so they could go to youth group!

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