Tonight with your 13 to 17 year old

The prompt

“What's the game or activity where you completely lose track of time?”

What to listen for

Notice the energy in how they describe it, genuine enthusiasm here is a sign of something that lets them feel fully themselves, unjudged and absorbed, which is valuable no matter how "productive" it looks from the outside.

If it's something you don't know much about, ask a follow-up question about it rather than moving on quickly, that curiosity tells them their interests matter to you, not just their grades or chores.

If they can't think of anything right now, that might be worth quietly noting; everyone needs at least one thing that absorbs them completely, and it's worth helping them rediscover it.

What this tells you

This tells you what genuinely lights them up and lets them feel like themselves, which is a window into what actually brings them joy right now.