Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old
The prompt
“What's something that makes you feel jealous, and what do you usually do about it?”
What to listen for
If they can name both the feeling and a real strategy for handling it, even an imperfect one, they're building real emotional maturity, resist the urge to tell them jealousy is bad, and instead focus on what they do with it.
If they insist they never get jealous, that might be true, or it might feel like an unacceptable feeling to admit to, reassure them everyone feels it sometimes, even you.
If they say "I don't know," ask about a specific sibling or friend situation where someone got something they wanted.
What this tells you
Their answer shows whether jealousy feels like a normal passing feeling to them or something shameful to hide.