Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old

The prompt

“If you had to describe our favorite holiday to someone who'd never heard of it, without saying its name, what would you say?”

What to listen for

A rich, detailed description shows the tradition is genuinely meaningful to them, not just something that happens to them each year.

If they focus only on presents or food, that's completely normal at this age, you can playfully ask what else they'd miss if that day disappeared, to draw out the deeper stuff.

If they struggle to describe it at all, that might mean the tradition has become more routine than special lately, and it's worth asking what would make it feel more like theirs.

What this tells you

This shows what part of your family's traditions actually feels meaningful to them versus just habitual.