What did you learn today?

What was your favorite part of the day?

These are the two questions I ask my daughters every night at dinner.  I started this tradition a few years ago to learn more about their day.  My Daughters frequently surprise me with their unique and different answers. 

For example, the other day my Daughter said “I learned to board-slide (a snowboarding trick) and the favorite part of my day was snowboarding with Mom.

The next day the answer was “ I learned about Martin Luther King and her favorite part of the day was going to ninja class.  Everyday the answer is different.

By asking these two questions I get to hear what my daughters thought of the day. 

My Daughters get to pause, evaluate and process the events of their day.  I found it fascinating what they found important and it allowed me to truly understand how they process the day.

Many of their favorite moments involve family….  “working on a school project, watching movies, playing video games together, spending time with Grandma and Grandpa”. 

Sometimes the answer is sports related like learning to do a snowboard trick, playing street hockey, riding a hover board etc”.   Dinner time is one of my favorite parts of the day and if I don’t ask the girls the above two questions…. They will….What did you learn today?…

Overtime I realized that I should be asking myself the same two questions. 

At first, I would ask the question to myself at the end of the day.  Eventually, I began to share my two answers at dinner and now Lauren does as well.

Sometimes we have similar answers like “I learned that Dry Creek Canyon was not dry and that was a tough hike”.  My favorite part about today was “making it through Dry Creek Canyon”.

Everyday we learn something new and even during the worst of days we can find a “favorite” part of the day.  The rough days are filled with silver lining moments and the good days are really good.

2020 was full of learning days and favorite moments.  I am looking forward to 2021.

Pause, evaluate and process

What did you learn today?

What was your favorite part about today?