“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:”
“Her children arise and call her blessed.” This is certainly not implying that children always respect and cherish their moms, because all kids, especially adolescents, go through phases of anger, frustration, and disdain for their parents. No matter how good a parent you are, some days your kids try to make you wear “The Worst Parent in the World” button.
The point here, though, is that she is acting honorably and in a way that deserves and receives respect and praise. When Ex. 20 commands us to honor our parents, it assumes that the parents are acting honorably. Here the woman is proven to be honorable and godly because those who see her day in and day out, and know all of her moods and foibles, give evidence that she is good, godly, full of integrity, and worthy of honor. It’s priceless.
“…her husband also, and he praises her.” The same is true for her husband. Despite personal differences and days of disagreements, and despite variable moods and difficult situations, he recognizes that his wife is a treasure to be admired, protected, cared for, and verbally and publicly praised.
Too often husbands and wives make a sport of denigrating their spouse in conversation with others, letting other know the stupid things their spouse did, his/her lapses of compassion, poor decisions, or hurtful behavior. We do it to garner sympathy and to feel good about ourselves and our theoretical superiority. But it’s a relational and spiritual mistake to behave like this. We should take care to speak well of our spouses in public conversation (see also v. 23) and to build them up in the eyes of others.