If you grew up watching family sitcoms at any point from the ‘60s through the ‘90s, then you probably expected that parenting would be filled with grand “teachable moments.”

At the end of every episode—whether it was The Brady Bunch, Growing Pains, Family Ties, or Full House—cheesy music would play, the parent would sit on the edge of the bed with a kid who’d made a hilariously big mistake, they’d have a touching moment in which the parent imparts some life-changing wisdom, and then the scene would end with a hug followed by a joke.

It turns out that real-life parenting isn’t quite like that.

In fact, many of the biggest opportunities for teachable moments with our kids are unexpected or even go by unnoticed. If only someone could cue the cheesy music and clue us in on what to do!

Well, there is something you can do to create an opportunity to connect with your children each and every day.

I call these “The Dinner Questions.” They are a way to avoid asking the question that every child on the planet finds boring: “How was school?” and getting the unhelpful answer of “fine” or “I don’t know.”

What’s special about these questions is that they do more than just entice your kids to talk about their day. They let you in on how your kids think. They help your kids learn to appreciate their experiences and the people in their lives. And they help to shape a positive mindset about the future.

In short, they create built-in “teachable moments.”

Take a listen to this short episode to hear the questions and see how.

This episode first appeared at www.drstevesilvestro.com

Music

• Akashic Records – Motivation
• Adam Hinden & cinnafinn — sea you soon
• Ampyx & Ron Curtis – Shoot for the Stars