Along the lines of a conversation I had online with some friends, today I implemented what I hope will be a new tradition in our house. Rather than fighting to get my older son to vaguely tell me about his day, I have five questions I think every family should consider answering at the dinner table.

What made you happy today?
What did you learn today?
What did you do to help someone today?
What was your favorite moment of the day?
What was the biggest problem you had today and how did you solve it?

I tried it with my son and his face lit up at my interest. These specific questions leave enough room for a kid to fill in the blank with whatever information really strikes him that day but are specific enough that you don’t get the shoulder shrug of death. I understand my mother’s exasperation with my younger self, now, when I hear echoes of “I dunno” issuing from my son’s lips.

What does “Roses and Thorns” have to do with it? It comes from a link someone posted about a White House lunch where George Stephanopolous wrote that the Obamas have a similar tradition of that name.

“At dinner, they play a game called ‘Roses and Thorns.’ Everyone takes a turn describing a good thing that happened that day (rose) and a low moment or tough problem they had to deal with (thorn).”

I think the first family is on to something.