Porch Stories

Questions to ask · Childhood · for your Parents

Who were your brothers, sisters or closest cousins, and what were they like?

Why this question matters

Where someone started explains so much of who they became. The answer is often a house, a street or a smell, and those are exactly the details a family loses when nobody writes them down.

Ask it on a quiet afternoon, give time for the answer, and write down the small details. That is where the story lives.

  1. What was your favourite toy, game or thing to do outside?
  2. What was the first thing you remember getting into real trouble for?
  3. What smells, sounds or foods take you straight back to your childhood?
  4. What did you want to be when you grew up, and why?
  5. What did your family do together on weekends and holidays?

From the journal

Keep their answers in one book.

This is one of the 100 guided questions in Tell Me Your Story, Dad, Tell Me Your Story, Mom. Every page has room to write the answer by hand.

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Free printable

25 Questions to Ask Your Grandparents Before It’s Too Late

The questions families most wish they had asked, on one page to print or keep on your phone. Free when you join the porch list.