What is the best question to ask your mom?

Start with something small and concrete, like what her kitchen smelled like as a child. Specific questions open memories far better than big ones such as 'what was your childhood like?'.

How do I record my mom's answers?

Write them down, record a voice note, or send her private question links with Go Family Story — she answers with a free account, no subscription needed, and every answer is kept in one private archive.

How many questions should I ask at once?

Three at a time works best. It takes a few minutes to answer and never feels like homework, which is why Go Family Story sends three questions a week.

Questions to ask your mom

Most of what our mothers know is never written down. These questions are the ones that actually start a conversation: specific, easy to answer, and worth keeping. Ask a few over a Sunday coffee, or send them a handful at a time and let her write when she has a quiet moment.

Questions to ask your mom about her own life

Ask these of her directly. Each one is written so she can answer in a few sentences, without feeling interviewed.

1.What was your own mother like with you?
2.What kind of girl were you before anyone called you Mum?
3.What did you want your life to look like at twenty?
4.What frightened you as a child?
5.Who did you tell first, and what did they say?
6.What was the pregnancy like?
7.What were the first months at home really like?
8.What did you and your friends do on a Friday night?
9.What frightened you most as a new mother?
10.What surprised you about becoming a mother?
11.What did you give up that you have never mentioned?
12.How did you meet the person you loved most?
13.What did you do for us that we never noticed?
14.What did you worry about at night when we were small?
15.What were you proudest of in the way you raised us?
16.What are you proudest of as a parent?
17.What would you do differently if you had the chance?
18.What did you find hardest about being our mother?
19.When did you feel most alone in it?
20.What did money mean in your house growing up, and later in your own?
21.Who helped you, and how?
22.What was your own childhood home like on an ordinary evening?
23.What did your mother do that you swore you would never do?
24.When did you feel most alone?
25.What did she do that you ended up doing anyway?
26.What were you like at school, honestly?
27.Who was your first love, and what happened?
28.What are you superstitious or particular about?
29.What did you think marriage would be like before you tried it?
30.What was the hardest year of your life as a mother?
31.What did you do all day when we were small?
32.What are you still angry about, if anything?
33.What did you cook most, and where did the recipe come from?
34.What did our house sound like in the morning?
35.What did you sing to us?
36.What did your parents argue about?
37.How did you manage money in those years?
38.What did you never buy for yourself?
39.Which friend carried you through motherhood?
40.What did you believe about grown-ups that turned out to be wrong?
41.What did you and Dad argue about, and how did it end?
42.What did you love about being married, and what was hard?
43.What did you do just for yourself, if anything?
44.What did you keep going with when you wanted to stop?
45.What work did you do outside the home, and what did it mean to you?

Turn these questions into a gift they'll keep

We send the questions for you. They answer free from their inbox, and every answer, photo and recording is gathered into one private archive — kept on a highly secure database, and downloadable by you at any time.

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Questions to answer about your mom

These are for you, your siblings and anyone else who loves her. Her story is not only what she remembers — it is also what she gave the people around her.

46.What is she like as a mother, day to day?
47.What does she always make or cook for you?
48.How did she comfort you when you were small?
49.How do you know when they are upset but not saying so?
50.What did she say when you were in trouble?
51.What did she sacrifice that you only understood later?
52.What does she look like getting ready to go out?
53.How do they behave in a crisis?
54.What does she sing, hum or have on in the background?
55.What does she worry about on your behalf?
56.What did she never let you get away with?
57.What do they give up on, and does it still show?
58.What does she teach you in the kitchen, the garden or the car?
59.How did she handle the family when things went wrong?
60.What is she like with other people's children?
61.What do they refuse to eat?
62.What did she keep going that held the family together?
63.What did you argue about with her as a teenager?
64.When did you first see her as a person and not just your mother?
65.Which version of that story do you believe?

Collect the answers in one place

Go Family Story sends three of these questions a week by private link. The person answers with a free account, and every answer, photo, video and voice recording is kept in one private archive that only your family can see.

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Common questions

What is the best question to ask your mom?: Start with something small and concrete, like what her kitchen smelled like as a child. Specific questions open memories far better than big ones such as 'what was your childhood like?'.
How do I record my mom's answers?: Write them down, record a voice note, or send her private question links with Go Family Story — she answers with a free account, no subscription needed, and every answer is kept in one private archive.
How many questions should I ask at once?: Three at a time works best. It takes a few minutes to answer and never feels like homework, which is why Go Family Story sends three questions a week.