Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old
The prompt
“How much say do you think you should get when we're making family plans, like vacations or weekends?”
What to listen for
If they push for a lot of input, they're telling you they want to feel like a real member of the household whose opinion shapes outcomes, not just someone along for the ride.
If they seem uninterested in having more say, that might mean they feel overwhelmed by decisions already, or it could mean they genuinely feel comfortable trusting you to choose, worth a gentle follow-up to tell which.
Try actually giving them one small real decision soon after this conversation, it does more than any amount of talking about fairness.
What this tells you
This reveals how much they currently feel like a participant in shaping family life versus just a passenger in it.