Building things with my kids

The most fun I have had building anything lately was not for work. It was a small chat bot that asks my kids about their day.

It started as a simple idea. Every evening it sends each of them a few friendly questions, remembers what they say, and keeps a little running memory so it can follow up later. Nothing fancy. But watching them light up when it remembered something from last week was worth more than any feature I have shipped for adults.

Why bother

Two reasons.

First, it creates a small daily habit of reflection that I would struggle to run consistently myself. The bot never forgets and never gets tired at bedtime.

Second, and this surprised me, it has made the kids curious about how the thing works. They ask why it says what it says. That is a door I am happy to keep open.

The lesson for me

Building for a real person you love raises your standard. I cut corners on my own tools all the time. For this one, every rough edge was obvious, because the users were sitting next to me. That is a good way to build anything.