It is very important to make ourselves purposely be seen in prayer.
What do I mean? Not the prideful suggestion this seems to make!
Let me elaborate.
As parents of children, especially younger children, I would encourage you to not underestimate the spiritual potential of your child! With the help and movement of God's grace and your guidance, there is so much they are capable of. I think there is so much they can teach us!
Children learn through imitation
We all know that children learn immensely from imitation. They especially learn from what they see and imitate around their home (and sometimes not always our best qualities! In fact, I do pray each day that our Lady - the perfect Mother - protect my children from my own faults and defects and make up for where I myself am lacking).
We often hear much about the necessity of praying with our children. And that most certainly is important.
Yet, what else can we do that will foster a love of prayer and a desire to pray on their own?
I might suggest letting them "catch" you in prayer. Or "praying to be seen." Remember, children are tremendous imitators! If children don't see their parents in prayer, they will be less inclined to make a prayer life of their own. It can happen that a child who only prays with other people may think that it's the only way prayer should be done (I've known someone who thought that growing up all their life until recently). Prayer is also not limited to our own isolation either. The catechism teaches us that there is also a communal aspect of prayer. We know Christ prayed with His Apostles. We need to pray in both ways. Yet the deepest graces of prayer that will lead to our interior life to be transformed into a Christ-like one will come through those times we pray silently on our own.
It is so crucial that our children learn, at some point, to make their prayer life their own. The misconception, I believe - although this is my own thought, is that we need to "wait" until children get to a certain older age to begin encouraging them to pray on their own. Habits of prayer need to be - and can be - formed in them from the smallest ages.
If children are so good at imitating, why not inspire them to imitate our prayer life in the sense that we, like Christ, "go off alone to pray," as the Scriptures tell us He did?
So we'll see this brings us to one point: That we need to be a person of personal prayer in our own life.
The second point - give them something to imitate. Spending time in prayer in the morning before the kids get up? Prolong it a little and let them see you. Did they wake up earlier than usual? Let them join you and just sit with you as you sit before the Lord. Do you have a "rest time" or nap time during the day? Stow away in prayer at some point and if they wake up, let them be with you. As if they want to join you in praying? If they don't want to stay and sit with you, they'll still know what you are doing...which is the most important part. Pause a moment to whisper a silent prayer to yourself throughout the day, yet loud enough that your child will know what's going on. Make the sign of the cross, that in itself is a beautiful prayer. When a child sees a parent consistently praying by themselves, it will only be a matter of time that it becomes natural for the child to do just the same.
I know this may seem unnatural and awkward at first, but the more you do these things, the less unnatural it will feel and you soon won't even notice. It will become added prayer time for you! Yet you will be inspiring a great example in your child - an example that will lead them to heaven.
Pray for a love of prayer...
Praying for a love of prayer in your child is just as important. Actually, it is THE most important thing. We can't do anything for our children without the grace and aid of the Holy Spirit. It is He who animates our interior life and the interior life of our children. So pray unceasingly, each day, for this grace for your child.
Remember our responsibilty as parents: to lead our children to heaven! We can give them everything materially that they want or we think they "need," but if we do not teach them the ways of our Lord, if we don't teach them how to pray, we will be accountable to God for that on the day of our judgement. If you've had a change of heart and perhaps feel you've neglected this but don't even know where to begin to do this, seek counsel from someone who can teach you and help you. Humble yourself. Ask questions. Make reparation (good talk to help you understand that here) for your past neglect. Remember, God is merciful and so very moved by humility!
It is beautiful to consider that Jesus practiced the prayers He learned from his Mother, including the traditional Jewish prayers (CCC 2559). You can't help but picture how tenderly and gently His Mother formed Him in His humble humanity to learn the prayers of their Jewish faith and how she taught Him how to commune with God. I would imagine in Her humilty, she observed much from teaching Him in His childhood since He was both God Himself and yet a little boy! A mystery incredible and mysterious to think about!
Yet, we can learn from our Lady in this example too: In teaching our children the way of prayer, we ourselves will be humbled. We will be humbled by their zeal and awe for God and for holy things...something that we'll probably discover we are lacking in. We'll be humbled by their own humility, so willing to be corrected and instructed and so willing to please God, even at their own little sacrifices. It surely is something to imitate!
What a blessing to learn and discover this as we endeavor to teach our children about the Lord!