I’m not planning to enslave my kids to build a reality TV fortune, or to encourage them to hawk everything from shape-up shoes to pistachio nuts, but there is one parenting trick I’ve stolen from the E! Network’s hit show “Keeping up with the Kardashians.” It’s a longstanding tradition that the Armenian clan will go around the table at dinner and have members talk about the “peak” and “pit” of their day with each other.

At my house, we’ve used the same concept for a dinnertime conversation starter called “Best and Worst.” I started doing this after becoming increasingly frustrated that my 7- and 4-year-old couldn’t tell me what they had done at school on any given day.

For some reason, asking them to tell me their best and worst moments opens up a floodgate of dialogue. In fact, they can rarely make it to dinnertime and usually tell me “best and worst” in the car ride home from school.

I briefly considered only letting the kids tell me the best thing that happened at school — no worsts! I like the idea of teaching children gratitude and to have a positive attitude. But, truthfully, I’ve learned some important things from listening to the “worsts.”

For example, my older son, Josh, one day told me his “worst” was having to stay in at recess to redo his homework I’d failed to correct. I’d been initialing his homework each day, assuming only that it was being checked for completion, not realizing that I needed to go through the 30-some math problems individually for accuracy. I don’t know how long this would have gone on had he not mentioned it at dinnertime.

Every once in a while, a kid will come home with a whole list of “worsts,” unable to name one “best” thing that happened. On those days, I bake cookies, or plan an impromptu outing, or do whatever I need to do to make a bad day better for my child. And then there are times where “bests” come easy, and Josh or Tyler can’t even think of a “worst.” As a mom, you can bet that’s the peak of my day.

• Features Editor Elyssa Andrus blogs with Natalie Hollingshead for Mom Click at www.twohappyhomemakers.com. They are the authors of “Happy Homemaking: An LDS Girls’ Guide” (Cedar Fort, $16.99).