Telling your parents about your day in more than one word is a gift. They’re starving for details.

The one word answer is not rudeness, it is usually just tiredness, and most parents know that. What they do not have is any window into a day that takes up almost all of your life. They are not fishing for a report, they want one scene, one person’s name, one thing that was funny.

Give one specific thing at dinner this week, the weird substitute teacher or the thing your friend said on the bus. It takes a minute and it buys you a lot of room later.