52 questions to ask your parents
The house you grew up in
Easy ones. Start here.
- 1What could you see from your bedroom window?
- 2What did your house smell like on a Sunday?
- 3Who was the neighbor everyone talked about?
- 4What was the best thing anyone ever cooked in that kitchen?
- 5Which room were you not allowed in?
- 6What did you get in trouble for most?
- 7What was your job around the house?
Your mother and father
You may hear things you've never heard.
- 8What did your mother do with her hands when she wasn't working?
- 9What did your father do when he came home?
- 10What did they argue about?
- 11What's something they said that you still say?
- 12What did you only understand about them after you had children?
- 13What do you wish you had asked them?
When you were young
Let them talk. Don't hurry to the next one.
- 14Who was your best friend at twelve, and what did you two get up to?
- 15What was the first song you loved?
- 16What did you want to be, before you knew better?
- 17What was the first money you ever earned, and what did you do with it?
- 18Who was the teacher you still remember?
- 19What's the worst haircut you ever had?
- 20What did you and your friends do on a Saturday night?
- 21When did you first feel grown up?
Love and how you met
If they lost someone, go gently, or skip this one.
- 22Who was your first crush?
- 23What was the first thing you noticed about the person you married?
- 24Where did you go on your first date?
- 25What was your wedding day really like?
- 26What's the hardest thing about staying married?
- 27What do you still love about them?
- 28When did you know?
Work and getting by
People light up talking about what they were good at.
- 29What was your first real job?
- 30What was the best boss you ever had like?
- 31What were you good at that nobody ever thanked you for?
- 32What was the tightest time for money, and how did you get through it?
- 33What's the best thing you ever bought for yourself?
- 34If you could have done a different job, what would it have been?
Being a parent
You get to hear about yourself. Be brave.
- 35What do you remember about the day I was born?
- 36What was I like at six?
- 37What did you worry about most when we were small?
- 38What did you get right that you never got credit for?
- 39What would you do differently?
- 40What's the funniest thing one of us ever did?
- 41When did you stop worrying about me? Or did you?
Things you've lived through
Only if they want to.
- 42Where were you on a day the whole country remembers?
- 43What's the hardest year you've had?
- 44Who helped you when you needed it?
- 45What's something you were scared of that turned out fine?
- 46How has this town changed since you came here?
- 47What's changed the most in your lifetime, for better or worse?
What you want us to know
Save these for a quiet moment.
- 48What are you proud of that we might not know about?
- 49What do you want your grandchildren to know about you?
- 50Is there a recipe, a story or a song that shouldn't get lost?
- 51What do you want more of, these days?
- 52What's the best advice you ever ignored?