100 Questions to Ask Your Parents

51. What age group of kids do you think you are best with: babies, middle-school, or high school?

52. Over your lifetime there have been a lot of different kinds of music. What is your all-time favorite? Why?

53. What have you said to me that you wish you hadn't?

54. Did kids ever make fun of you for any reason? What do you remember best?

55. When you were younger, did you ever drink too much and get sick? If so, how did that happen?

56. Would you get upset if I wanted to live in another country when I was grown up? Why or why not?

57. There are two kinds of weddings: big fancy ones and small private ones. Which do you like?

58. Did you ever run away from home? If you did, why did you do it? If you didn't, did you ever think about it? Do you remember what the issue was?

59. What are your all-time favorite movies? Why?

60. What kinds of things make you sad?

61. If you could be any female sports star, who would you be?

62. Do you believe men and women ought to be equal partners, or should the man be in charge? Why? Did you and Mom/Dad talk about this before marriage?

63. Did you ever get jealous of someone?

64. Do you think people are born intelligent, or can they be made intelligent?

65. Would you admit to me if you were afraid of something?

66. Do you think there should be a death penalty for murder, or should the worst possible punishment be life in prison? Tell me why you have this opinion.

67. Do you think it is ok for a man to be the person who stays home with the kids instead of the woman? Why or why not?

68. Why do women shave their armpits and men don't?

69. If you won the lottery, what would you do with the money?

70. What makes you like one of my friends? What would make you dislike one of my friends?

71. Have you ever thought of adopting a child? Why or why not?

72. What did you get in trouble for when you were a kid?

73. Did you ever have a teacher who picked on you?

74. What was the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to you?

75. Is my personality the same now as it was when I was younger? Tell me how I am the same or different.

Excerpted from:

From the book 201 Questions to Ask Your Kids by Pepper Schwartz, published by HarperResource, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. Copyright © 2000 by Pepper Schwartz, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Buy the book at www.harpercollins.com.