There is a cassette tape (remember those?!) of me when I was about six years old asking my grandparents the silliest questions. I think one of the questions I asked was, “would you rather get stung by a bee or smell a flower?” Hmm. I was not destined to be a journalist. We have it as a digital file now, but it is such a sweet thing to have especially after my grandparents have passed away.

When my grandma Pearl was 94 I had the thought that I should probably interview her. She was in Minnesota and I was in Arkansas with small children so the logistics of getting together for this interview were almost impossible, so I called her and recorded the phone interview. She lived to be 99 and I am so glad that I have this interview both for myself and to share with my kids.

We are very fortunate to have both sets of grandparents living right next to us and they are all healthy and involved in the kids’ lives. Our kids know their grandparents so much more than I ever knew mine. I wanted to capture the way the kids are with the grandparents in a video of them asking questions to the grandparents one at a time.

To avoid the silly question interview like I did when I was six I helped the kids choose some questions to ask. Here are some of the ones that we used:

1. Tell me about what you were like as a child.
2. Do you have a nickname?
3. When and where were you born?
4. What was your house like as a child?
5. Tell me about your family when you were a kid.
6. What was your favorite subject in school?
7. What did your friends do for fun as a kid?
8. What did you like to play with as a kid?
9. What sports did you play?
10. How did you meet grandma/grandpa?
11. What was your wedding like?
12. What jobs did you have?
13. What was your first car?
14. Where have you lived?
15. Where have you traveled? What was your favorite place?
16. What is your favorite memory with your children?
17. What were your grandparents like?
18. Have you owned any pets?
19. What was my mom/dad like as a child?
20. What is your favorite thing about being a grandparent?

I would encourage you to also find time to interview grandparents. There is never really a good time- everyone is busy- but this is so important. The time is now. Just set a time and bring a list of questions and don’t forget to record it! We used a gopro and just set it up and walked out of the room leaving the kids to ask questions. It only takes about 10 minutes and I know these videos will be cherished forever!

Until next time,