Stage an Interview
I’ve written previously about the value of recording your kid’s voice, surreptitiously eavesdropping on their conversations to capture a true, slice-of-life essence of them, at that point in their lives. (That’s not creepy or illegal, right?). This tip is related - it’s also about recording them - but a shade different, in that during a proper interview, they know they’re being recorded.
My uncle, who has been somewhat of our family historian, had collected (and recorded some of) now-priceless audio interviews with some of our antecedents. The recordings are fuzzy, the subjects mundane, but there is something about the intentionality of them that makes them really engaging to me. The fact that someone, at some point, said, it’s important for us to sit down and record this conversation … that carries a kind of sacred weight for me.
So … now is your chance to do the same with your child. Any phone or tablet will work fine. I have an external USB mic lying around which adds a nice level of clarity and fidelity. (As a lover of gear, I need to remind myself, though, that it’s not about the quality but the intent!) Set it up like it’s kind of a special thing (it is!) with them sitting in a chair or at a desk. Ask questions that will capture the essence of this point in their lives, and like any good interviewer or researcher, don’t stop at the surface. I’ve done these as audio-only interviews, but of course they could be videos too.
Who is your best friend now? What makes them a good friend?
What’s the last thing you got really sad about? Why do you think it made you so sad?
Who’s your teacher this year? Do you like them? Why?
What’s your favorite song? Can you sing it?
… you get the idea.
The additional formality of this is a bit of a double-edged sword: it gives this activity more weight and importance which might appeal to them, but also could be a bit too much depending on your kid’s age and temperament. I found that it depended a lot on my kids’ moods how receptive they were to actually digging into questions, or just goofing off and blowing on the microphone to see how high the waveform can go.
Whether your kids give eloquent and thoughtful responses, or just make farting noises into the microphone, these recordings will serve as a really nice snapshot of this moment in time. Don’t forget to write the questions down so you can re-use them next time and see how things have changed in the intervening months or years.
