This directive from Proverbs gives us great instruction on rearing our children:

• Train up – means to lead and to teach, teaching your preschooler to obey and to understand who is boss.
• In the way he should go – means being a student of your child. God has created each of them uniquely, and we want them to discover who God wants them to be.
• When he is old he will not depart from it. “Old” doesn’t mean teenager or young adult, but aged man.

Along the way, some kids break their parents’ hearts, but God’s Word offers hope that they will eventually come around. Take time to be a leader and a student of your children when they’re small, and there’s a far better chance they’ll listen to you and do what’s right when they’re older.