Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old
The prompt
“Has a wave of nostalgia hit you out of nowhere recently, like, over something small?”
What to listen for
If they can describe it, it means they're comfortable sitting with and sharing tender, unexpected feelings instead of brushing them off as silly or unimportant.
If the memory involves a person or a time that's since changed, let the wistfulness sit without trying to fix or resolve it, sometimes nostalgia is just meant to be felt, not solved.
If they say nothing comes to mind, that's completely fine; this isn't every teen's most natural way of reflecting, and that's okay.
What this tells you
This tells you what unexpected memories are quietly still meaningful to them, even ones they hadn't thought to mention.