‘I asked my mum five questions about her life. Her answers surprised me.’

How much do you really know about your parents?

When you get to your early-to-mid 20s, your relationship with your parents takes an unexpected turn. Once you move out, finish studying, and/or start working, your parents start to feel less like authority figures and more like your… peers.

Much older peers. Who refer to ‘The Facebook’ and ‘Snapface,’ and pull a frankly ridiculous expression when looking at their phone. But peers nonetheless.

At the same time, the years spent fighting, with your parents trying their very, very best for you not to make truly stupid decisions/injure yourself/quit everything just because you’re a bit tired today, take their toll, and you end up feeling that although you love your parents, you don’t really know much about who they are, beyond…. you.

And they might not really know much about who you are, outside of your terrible bank balance, poor sleeping habits, and penchant for eating more than they physically thought possible when you come home for dinner.

So recently, I sat down with my mum and we asked each other five questions. I expected to laugh, and get most of them wrong, and to pay her out roughly every four to six seconds, but that's not quite what happened.

I got... I caught... the feelings.

I had real feelings.

We sat on a lounge, with a bowl of Allen's red frogs to break the ice (they really do help when you're feeling a little awkward) and asked each other the following five questions:

• What's something that you do, that I wish you didn't?
• When did I have my first kiss?
• Who do I look up to the most?
• What do I like the most about you?
• When was a time you made me the most proud?

I learnt more about my mum in those five minutes than I have in a long time.

My mum's first kiss was with a boy on the bus, except he missed and kissed the back of her head (#smooth).

She looks up the most to her mum, who she also happens to be eerily similar to. She thinks I'm clever, which surprised me (I ran out of petrol on a main road the other day, because 'I know my car,' and I truly believe I can get anywhere in Sydney in 10 minutes). She wishes I wouldn't 'over commit', AKA promise to do a whole bunch of things I'm realistically never going to do. And she was proud of the time I moved overseas for a year, even though she doesn't know I survived almost solely on toast and got lost more times than I can count.

Spend five minutes with your mum, or your dad, and have a go at asking them questions you genuinely don't know the answer to. Who do they look up to? What would they want to do if they weren't in their current career? Who did they first fall in love with? Why do they share weird memes on Facebook? That's important.

It's the most valuable few minutes you'll have had in a long time. Trust me. And don't forget to have a red frog while you're at it.

This video and post were brought to you by Allen's, a proud partner of Red Frogs Australia, the volunteer support network dedicated to helping young Australians to make positive life choices. You'll see the volunteers at big events like Schoolies. This year, Red Frogs is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Happy anniversary!