Porch Stories

Questions to ask · Growing up · for your Parents

What were you like as a teenager? Be honest.

Why this question matters

Asking about being young and free lets them be someone other than the person you have always known. Listen for the plans, the risks and the friends who mattered.

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 rules did your parents have that you broke?
  2. What was the most adventurous thing you did before you turned twenty?
  3. What did your hair and clothes look like? Were you proud of them?
  4. Who were you trying to be like back then?
  5. What was a big disappointment in those years, and how did you get over it?

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.