Tonight with your 9 to 12 year old

The prompt

“What makes you feel the most secure, like nothing could really shake you?”

What to listen for

If they name a person, that tells you who currently anchors their sense of safety, and it's worth making sure that relationship stays strong and consistent.

If they name a place or routine instead, that's a signal that predictability and familiar surroundings are doing a lot of the emotional work for them right now, protect those routines when you can.

An unsure answer here is worth sitting with rather than rushing past, since feeling truly secure is something that builds slowly and this is useful information either way.

What this tells you

Their answer points to the exact source of their stability, which is worth protecting and reinforcing.