Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old

The prompt

“Was there a time you kept your word even though it turned out to be really inconvenient?”

What to listen for

If they can describe following through when it would've been easier not to, they're building a sense that their word actually means something, reinforce that this is exactly the kind of person they're becoming.

If they admit they backed out of something, resist jumping straight to a lesson; ask what made it hard to keep the promise, since that tells you more than the outcome does.

If they say "I don't know," ask about a specific promise, to a friend, to a sibling, to you, and see if a memory surfaces.

What this tells you

This tells you how solid their sense of being someone who follows through is starting to feel to them.