Tonight with your 5 to 8 year old

The prompt

“If people only remembered one thing about you when you're all grown up, what would you want it to be?”

What to listen for

If they name a trait like kindness, being funny, or being brave, they're already forming a real sense of the identity they want to build, not just what they're good at, a beautiful thing to reflect back and nurture.

If they name an achievement or skill instead, that's completely normal too, you can gently ask a follow-up about how they want to make people feel, to widen the picture a little.

If they say "I don't know," that's a big question for a small person, you can offer what you'd want people to remember about them, which often helps them find their own words.

What this tells you

This shows what part of their identity they most want to be known for as they grow, beyond what they can do.