ADVICE RATING |
 4.71 (Highly recommend) from 19 votes (82 Visits) |
In our house we have played this word game for many, many years. It’s basically like a knock knock joke. I’ll explain what we say to each other and then why it has become so important for us.
Me: Guess What?
Daughter: What?
Me: Love Ya!
Pretty simple, isn’t it? Now why we say it is the important part.
What started as a simple game when the children were very young has now become a communication tool for my teens! The teen years are challenging to say the least.
Communicating is by far the most hardest and important issue that I have found.
Teens never want to talk and certainly not listen but even under trying conditions this little word game has made a difference.
Catching them off guard has been effective. My teen will walk around the house with a scowl and as soon as I say Guess What? a smile will appear. They may not answer and roll their eyes but the smile is still there, they have got the message. I have used it many times to diffuse a tense moment between the two of us.
Teens will often say “I don’t care!” but they do. While teens go through the transition from child to adult they can resist any signs of affection or sentiment. This is where this simple saying has been it’s most helpful.
I think it has worked mainly because we have said it for so long and helps us to connect back to the days when my teen would actually want to talk and spend time with mum! It has helped change moods from agro teen to just normal teen.
I find this works so well for us also, as I was not brought up in a demonstrative household where no one hugged or showed signs of affection, let alone said “I love you”.
I’m sure every family has their own traditions; I just wanted to share one of mine that I have found to be so useful.
(March 2008) (
