What was the Best part of your Day?

When I was a kid, my family sat down at the table together for dinner nearly every night. While I may not have appreciated it at the time, looking back I see the importance of that time of day when we could all slow down and talk about what had occurred that day. 

I don't see or talk to my nieces every day, but when I do talk to them, I try to learn about the things that go on in their daily lives. "How was your day today?" Fine. "What did you learn at school today?" Nothing. These one-word answers don't give me any insight.

So last night at the dinner table, my fiance asked a question that he was used to hearing around the dinner table with his family growing up: "What was the best part of your day?" 

Everyone around the table shares the best thing that happened that day. There is no opting out - everyone has to answer - and there's no being negative - Nothing good happened today. The best part of the day could be as simple as sleeping in an extra few minutes or getting a good grade on a test.

When I started to partake in this tradition with my fiance's family, I found the responses to this question often brought out stories of the day's events, rather than just one-word answers.

And that's exactly what happened when my fiance posed this question to the girls at dinner. At first they thought it was silly. But it got them to reflect on their day and recall at least one positive thing that happened or one thing they're proud of. 

Hannah told everyone the story about how we ran into her godmother at the library and got to have lunch with her and her two kids. Bailey shared her achievement that she won a board game we played that morning.

I think it's something they start to look forward to, knowing they'll have an audience at the dinner table to share the best part of their day. We encouraged them to try this question at home!

So even if you can't all sit around the same table for a meal, ask in the car or at bedtime: "What was the best part of your day?" 

And don't forget, you have to answer too!