Conversation starter ideas for teen daughter 15

[Tryingtomakethebestofmylife]

We talk about the usual stuff like how’s school
how are your friends
what would you like to do when older
where would you like to travel etc

going out later just the two of us so looking for some conversation starters

reason I’m asking is just I’ve not been well now for a few months and in quite. A bit of pain
so I’m not really able to think as straight as I used to
so I need to think of ideas ahead

many thanks in advance

Even just ideas of what you chat to your teen about might be helpful

i ask what his friends are up to, youtube videos he’s watched, music that he’s listening to, football, tv programs, any funny or interesting news stories. Basically ask about things he’s interested in.

If you could have any superpower which one would you want and why?

You win a free house, but what you choose you have to live in for the next 20 years - Would you rather have a beautiful 4 bedroom stone cottage on the cornish coast walking distance from the beach but no internet signal and a 10 minute walk to your nearest neighbour or a modern two bed flat in a convenient part of town?

pick a tv series and watch it with them (ideally on a streaming service iplayer etc. so you can watch together at times that suit you both) and then you can talk about situations and characters from that. Oh I agree with everything @TwoBlueFish said two I was just trying to give some wackier ideas.

You have to wear two colours only for the rest of your life which two colours do you pick and why?

You might want to look up Natter Matters, I think it looks great. My son is too young for it but I want to buy it when he’s older.

This is so sweet that you want to engage with her so much that you're planning ahead. What a lovely mum ❤️

Discussions we have had at work

Would you rather have wotsits for fingers or toes?
Would you rather own a horse size cat or a cat size horse?
Would you rather be 7 inches tall or 7 foot tall?

Discuss things that are in the news, for example does she support the strike action being taken by various sectors at the moment, the Harry and Meghan interview, does she think Rishi is doing a good job etc.
What you will be doing as a family over Christmas, so things like what you will be having for lunch (if turkey, does she fancy something different this year?), other food that she might want, who you will be seeing etc. Is there anything special that she wants to do over the holiday period?

My best conversations happen in the car - I think it’s the side by side thing, rather than facing each other. And I try and do much more listening than talking.

“Any gossip from school?” is always a good one - it’s completely different to asking what’s happening in school or what the news from school is.

“Did you see that [insert news story]” I like chatting about current events; they’re less likely to clam up because it feels non personal but you can hear a lot about how they’re feeling/thinking when you’re on neutral topics

Ask them to choose a song to listen to if they’re not inclined to talk.

Thank you that means alot
esp considering I felt daft asking this

Thank you all so much for these brilliant ideas

went well and I used a few of them like the Harry and Megan question

and in
goign to use all your suggestions
as they are so good

thanks so much

many further ideas welcome

God no, don't feel bad! Teens are hard!! I'm stealing some ideas from this for mine, we've drifted a bit recently and I want to reconnect over the holidays.

How about sharing some funny/ embarrassing anecdotes from when your were her age? Channel your inner teen!

Or times you got into trouble? I sometimes ask mine about the latest gossip (but kept it light hearted/ clean/ kind)

We do wordle and worldle at bedtime, usually sparks a good conversation about whatever country the worldle is and then they tend to chat about other random stuff as a delay tactic to avoid going to bed. End up with at least 2 of the 3 sat on my bed and either snuggled up for a cuddle (DD12) or leaning on me because they're too old for snuggling (DS16).
I make out like it annoys me but it's my favourite time of day.

We also talk about the cats A LOT.

Conversations I've had recently with ds include Harry and Megan (just because it was being discussed on the radio in the car, neither of us know the ins and outs of what has gone/is going on). This lead to a general discussion about how do people/youtubers/influencers etc make money being in the spotlight and the saying "all publicity is good publicity", not having a private life, airing your life and relationships in public, but it being a choice celebs make when they go into that as a business. It then kind of moved onto healthy vs unhealthy relationships, talked about some of his friends relationship dramas, threw in some of my own antics (that were shareable!) when I was younger etc.

Love having conversations with ds (when I see him, which isn't often nowadays), start the conversation with a hook and they go off in all directions!

Footballers being seen as role models is another good one - goes into talking about the big money they get, when it goes wrong, what they do after football, causes they support - and that is another whole thread of conversation etc.

Basically anything thats been in the news, or in a show, or happening in real life that they might be interested in