Tonight with your 5 to 8 year old

The prompt

“If you were in charge of cooking family dinner tonight, what would you make?”

What to listen for

If they pick something wildly impractical and fun, that's just joyful imagination, let it run. If they pick a real favorite family meal, notice whether it's tied to a memory or tradition, that's often more about wanting a feeling back than wanting the food itself.

If they want to include everyone's favorite thing on one plate, that shows they're already thinking about the whole family's happiness, not just their own, a lovely, generous instinct worth naming out loud.

If they say "I don't know," ask what they'd want if it was JUST for them, no sharing required, sometimes starting selfish makes it easier to then add others in.

What this tells you

Their dream dinner often reveals whether food, for them, is mostly about taste or mostly about togetherness.