Creating Talk Opportunities

Teenagers rarely talk on a schedule. The best conversations tend to ambush you sideways, so your job is to set the stage and wait:

• Keep meals light and pressure-free.
• After a movie, ask open-ended questions about the characters, not about them.
• Stay nearby and reachable without hovering.

The thread running through all of it: no spotlight. The less it feels like "a talk," the more they say.