For disclosure's sake, I stole this idea from a novel, "Marcelo in the Real World."
Every night at dinner my husband or I (or whichever of the kids might remember first) will ask another family member, "(Name, Name), what do you say? What was your favorite thing today?" So if my son said, "Mommy, Mommy, what do you say? What was your favorite thing today?" I might answer, "I loved snuggling up with you and your sisters and reading stories this afternoon." I would then use the rhyme and ask another family member what their favorite thing was, and so on around the table until we have all shared.
This is not only a nice nightly family tradition, but I've found that when we have guests over it gives the kids an opportunity to open up the conversation to them. In the past the kids might have been shy around new faces at the table, but now they will smile and ask the guest what their favorite thing was for the day. After the guest shares, the children will encourage them to repeat the rhyme to someone else (which usually means that the kids have to help them remember the rhyme). Guests enjoy sharing and the kids enjoy being a part of the conversation.
Reader, Reader, what do you say? What was your favorite thing today?
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