Children See. Children Do.

My son has become quite the parrot.  Whatever we say, he repeats.  I am thankful the neither my husband or I speak with harmful language (aside from the occassional "crap," but that is being phased out of our vocabulary as well.)  He will repeat letters, colors, numbers, and song lyrics when we prompt him.  But I noticed the other day that he repeats things that we don't prompt him to as well.  One of my common phrases is, "Oh, child!" when he does something silly.  I did something funny the other day and he looked at me with his ornery grin and yelled, "Oh, tiled!" with his little voice.  Wow.  He truly hears everything that we say and emulates our actions.  You can see it in the way children talk on play phones.  In the way they learn to smile at just a few months of age.  In the way they interact with others.
We are given the responsibility of raising our children to be adults.  What type of adult they become is dependent mostly on us and our parenting techniques.  Yes, every child has their own natural disposition and tendencies toward certain attitudes.  But for the most part, they become little carbon copies of us.  That's why I believe alcoholism and habits like smoking and nail-biting pass along through generations.  Monkey see. Monkey do.  Or, as I stated earlier, children see.  Children do.  We can blame television, music, and other influences all that we would like.  But we as parents are the ones that allow them to be exposed to the television, music, and instances that they are, for the most part.
So, you want to raise children that honor God and follow Him with all their being?  Do it yourself!  Strive to be in the Word and set aside a daily quiet time with Him.  Want your children to respect their future spouse and keep them as an importance in their life?  Show them how much you care for your spouse!  Want them to be great parents?  Be one yourself! This video is a powerful showing of how children watch and learn from their parents.  (Please be aware: This may be sensitive to some viewers, and I do not believe it is suitable for children to watch.  It is, however, a very powerful video of how children notice all that we do.)
We need to start taking our roles as parents seriously.  There are so many people that want children and are unable to conceive, yet some people have children and ignore the responsibility to raise them, and some even devalue the lives of those that should be so important to them.  Be an example to your children, as well as other parents, and value and adore your little ones.  Teach them.  Love them.  And watch them grow!