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Based on the writings of Ellen White, children have a solemn, lifelong duty to honor and care for their parents. This obligation does not end when a child reaches adulthood. Here are some key principles from her writings on this topic: **The Fifth Commandment is a Lifelong Obligation:** The duty to honor parents is based on the fifth commandment and extends throughout their lives. * "‘Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.’ This is the first commandment with promise. It is binding upon childhood and youth, upon the middle-aged and the aged. There is no period in life when children are excused from honoring their parents. This solemn obligation is binding upon every son and daughter, and is one of the conditions to their prolonging their lives upon the land which the Lord will give the faithful." (2T 80.1) **Practical Care and Respect for Adult Children:** Even after children are grown, they are expected to provide for their parents' comfort and listen to their counsel. * "Even after they are of age, children are required to respect their parents, and to look after their comfort. They should listen to the counsel of godly parents, and not feel that because a few more years are added to their life, they have grown out of their duty to them." (1T 217.2) **Recognizing Parents' Sacrifices:** Children are encouraged to remember the care and anxiety their parents invested in them. * "Children should feel that they are indebted to their parents, who have watched over them in infancy and nursed them in sickness. They should realize that their parents have suffered much anxiety on their account. Especially have conscientious, godly parents felt the deepest interest that their children should take a right course." (1T 395.3) **A Sign of the Last Days:** A lack of respect for the aged is identified as a sign of the end times. * "In these last days children are so noted for their disobedience and disrespect that God has especially noticed it, and it constitutes a sign that the end is near. It shows that Satan has almost complete control of the minds of the young. By many, age is no more respected." (1T 217.2) **A Personal Example:** In a letter to her son, Ellen White gave simple, practical advice on how to be considerate of his grandparents: * "You must do your part to make them happy. They love you, Willie, very much, because you are not mischievous, and do not make them trouble... You should never grieve them by being noisy, for this often annoys aged people." (AY 71.1)