It’s easy to underestimate the ability of children to remember stuff. This is particularly true when it comes to things we have said to them. I will be doing something with my young grandkids when suddenly they will remind me of something I told them years ago. Something I thought was completely inconsequential and long forgotten.
Not to them. They absorbed it, and made it part of who they are, or how they should feel about something, or how they should respond to a situation. Wow, I think. They are actually learning from me. Everything I do and say to them, and in the presence of them, is being observed and retained, and it makes a difference as to what kind of person they are, and will become.
Being a role model may not be what you signed up for, but you are one like it or not. If you want your kids and grandkids to grow up to be good people, you had better be one yourself.
Amen, thank you for reminding us of our responsibility to our younger generation.