How well do your know your child ?

Spend some time with your child discussing the questions below; you may get lucky and learn something about your child that you didn't know!

What do you look for in a friend?
What is your favorite thing to do?
What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?
What is your favorite thing about school? Least favorite?
Who do you consider to be your hero? Why?
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
What three things do you think you are good at?
What is your best memory? Worst memory?
What is your favorite movie?
What are you most afraid of?
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
What is the best thing about being young? What is the worst thing?
What is your favorite class? Who is your favorite teacher?
Who is your best friend? Why?
What are your favorite foods?
What makes you the most angry?
What makes you the most happy?
If you were the parent for a day, which rule would you get rid of?
If you could have a magical power, what would you choose?
What would you do if you had the magical power you chose?
What do you see in your future?
Describe yourself using five words or less.
If you could spend one day doing anything you wanted, what would you do?
How would you act if there were NO rules for the day?
What is your biggest problem at school?
What is your biggest problem at home?
What is the best thing about being YOU?

A study by the University of Rochester last year screened the parents of more than 10,000, 9-month-old babies, asking such questions as “Should a 1-year-old child be able to tell right from wrong?” and “Should a 1-year-old child be ready to begin toilet-training?” A third of parents got fewer than five of the 11 questions correct, meaning they had what researchers labeled a “low level knowledge of typical infant development.” (The answer to both those questions is no, by the way.)

Another reason we don’t see what is in front of us, is that we don’t want it to be true. (Which is one reason why doctors and therapists are not supposed to treat their own children.) We’re in denial, pure and simple. And a more complicated corollary to that is “it can’t be true, because if it were, as his parent, I would know.”

We are blinded by the emotional connection that makes us want so much in the first place. We, who know our children best, are sometimes too close for a focused view. Even while we think we are paying meticulous attention (and heaven knows, we have all seen parents who are smothering with their attention) we still miss what is right in front of us !