My niece and nephew are a delight to watch. Sometimes, when I am bored, they provide comedic relief.

When my nephew was the still the only child, he amazed me with some of the surprising acts he displayed.

Now that they are two, it is even more beautiful.

I have written on my Facebook page how they terrorise me at home by manning the television.

I practically have to beg them if I want to watch anything different from cartoon.

They are like the boss of the television and boy, do they ride it on our heads.

But that’s not all, the most amazing thing about them is how they are cat and dog; they fight a lot but are also very close.

They are so close that the sister practically copies everything her brother does.

It does not sound as funny written as it is watching them, really.

But imagine how they come back from the school and my nephew, out of excitement, jumps into the house, pulls off his school bag, drops it on the cushion and probably proceed to run to the kitchen to get water.

Now, understand that he does all these unconsciously. But his sister would do everything exactly as he did it, without missing a beat.

She would jump as well, drop her bag and run to the kitchen even though she is not thirsty, all because that was how her brother did it.

I always burst into laughter when I see the scenario play out. It is really funny to watch.

Just in case you think this is simply an article to talk about my nephew and niece, it isn’t. I am getting somewhere.

Like I said, the scenes are good for laughs but it called my attention to something, that the minds of these kids are vulnerable and they just want to act like someone they look up to.

Now, my nephew does not exist in a world of his own either. He takes things from his parents and even me, who stays with them.

I remember all those years before, when he was two and he already knew how to plug an earphone into a phone or how he knew how to tinker with a phone and just do some little things you would not expect a two year old child to know about.

I was so shocked about the earphone that I had to mention it to my sister, his mum, and she said “yeah, he knows how to from watching his father.”

It is a circle.

My nephew imitates us and his sister, who looks up to her big brother, watches him and acts like he does.

At the end of the day, it falls on us, the adults to give them the right​ example to emulate.

The minds of children are like sponges and they soak up everything they see.

It is easier to shape a child’s character right by acting it out than telling them how to act.

I am still very single and without a child but from the little I have seen and known, children do more what they see you do than what you say.

If you want your children to be exemplary, then you have to show them by being an exemplary citizen yourself.

We owe it to this children to polish ourselves and be worthy of emulation.