120 Questions to Ask Your Parents/Grandparents

Gayla
Feb 26, 2021
3 min read

Are you interested in hearing the stories from your parents and/or grandparents but just don’t know how to get them to do it? I am pretty sure this will give you some answers (and some great stories that will live on long after they’re gone).

To begin, lets talk about how hard it is to get parents/grandparents to write their stories. So many "older" people have a hard time with the computer, tape recorder, phone, or other device for recording their stories that you might think it will never get done. Well read on. I think I have the answers for you.

I have compiled a list of 120 great questions that can get your parents/grandparents thinking, and hopefully talking.

You can mark the questions that you want to ask them and then record their answers on a device that allows you to "voice-type," meaning while they talk, the device types out the words. It's that easy! I included a list of my favorite apps that you can check out.

Free Voice-Typing Applications

On Computer:

"Word" has voice recognition

Google Docs (tools section)

iPhone:

Notes – use the voice prompt

Otter (App)

Android Phone:

Voice Recorder (App)

Other:

Speechnotes

ListNotes

Windows speech recognition

There are several other applications that you can use, but these are the FREE ones that I know about. The typing won't be perfect and you will have to edit their stories, but it sure is easier than typing it all yourself.

If you are interested in the stories from your parents/grandparents lives, don’t wait to get their stories documented. Do it now! You never know when it will be too late. Once they’re gone, most of their stories will go with them if they are not recorded. It will be worth the time and effort. And I’ve made it much easier for you.

Tips & Tricks to Make It Easier (also included in the downloadable document):

Go through the questions and mark the ones that you want to ask. Divide them up among you and your siblings or other family members. Have them record and edit the stories and give them a due date when you need them back.
Don't worry about the order of your questions - randomly placed stories work great. If you do want them in order, you can cut and paste them after.
Encourage your parents/grandparents to expound on the answers. The questions are prompts that should spark a story (short or long), but you may have to ask them some "whys" and "hows" to get more information.
If your parents/grandparents live far away. You can ask them the questions on the phone. Just put your phone on speaker and open up the platform you’ll be recording it on.
If your parents/grandparents are uncomfortable answering these questions on the spot, don’t let them know you are recording them. You can just use the phrase, “I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately and I just have some questions I’m curious about from your past/growing up years. Do you have a minute to talk to me about some of my questions."
If you ask them a questions that they aren’t sure how to answer, go on to the next question and come back to that one later – maybe they will have an answer by then.
If your parents/grandparents are interested and excited about this project, you might show them the list and have them pick the questions they want to answer. Or you can tell them which questions you will be asking so they can think about their answers ahead of time.
Plan to read through the typing to make corrections. The voice-typing is not perfect and you will have to add/change some of the punctuation.
When you have all of the stories, you can combine them, add photos, recipes, documents, etc. that support the stories. And if you want to give them a title you can come up with something clever or you can use the question as the title. This allows each story/answer to be separate and to stand on it's own.
The best advice I can give you is to be patient with them and let them make mistakes or change their mind about what they say. You’re number one goal should be to make this an enjoyable experience for everyone and you will have more success if you keep everyone relaxed and having fun, and your attitude and patience will make all the difference.