Questions to start the conversation when talking to family

It’s never been easier to connect with our families wherever they are in the world.

As a military family we’re often away from our immediate family. I know it’s the same for many. When we get together at family gatherings it’s not always the best time to ask some of the deep and long questions we’d all love to hear. Children have projects about family history. They have questions. It’s not always easy.

But we’d all appreciate questions to start the conversation when talking to family. A chance to talk a little deeper or finding out parts of life that don’t come into a telphone conversation or a weekend family visit during a celebration.

Whether you like Skype, What’s up app, email, phone or video chat it’s never been easier to send a question to our folks and have a moment to hear the response.

Conversations over the phone has the tendency to go like conversations after school. If you ask- how have you been or you’re not sure what your nieces, nephews, or grandparents are upto then conversation is really light on detail. After school conversations are sometimes similar with- how was school? It’s hard to build connection this way.

Quickly setting up a system with your parents or siblings you can go through a book together with prompts for questions. Respond whichever way you want and kickstart some family conversation and learning about distant family. It’s not always easy to involve family but it’s worth having a try on a regular basis.