Certainly our parents have a great influence in our life. This is actually why we may have to make such good Kamma, because apparently in the idea of rebirth, our Kamma determines who become our parents. I'm very happy that I had parents who were like they were, and are like they are. I learned a lot of good things from my parents. But as they influence us, we also have to be discriminating in what we would like to manifest that is similar to them, and what we would not like to manifest that is similar to them. So we have to be discriminating in what sort of way we are like them. If we see the good influences that are like our parents coming out in ourselves, then we would like to encourage that. If we see some of the negative things (because all of us are not perfect, and that applies to parents and children), then we try to use it as we would with the other things that arise in ourselves. Try to see whether it is beneficial or not, skilful or not and try to let it go. But if you're like your parents in ways that are skilful and beneficial, then it's not so bad to be like them.
Parents are very important. In the Buddhist point of view parents are very important, because that they gave us this precious human birth. So the Buddhist point of view is that actually we can't really repay them. The Buddha gave this analogy that the only way we can repay them is apparently if we carry them around on our back for a hundred years, and they void on us and we keep on having patience and everything else. And apparently the Buddha said the only way you can really repay them is to actually teach them the Dhamma. So I'm very thankful that my mother is in the audience right now, because I don't have to carry her around on my back for a hundred years! Gratitude and respect for one's parents is encouraged. And if we see that our parents have some qualities, then we try to have patience with them if these qualities are not so skilful, just as we would like to have patience with some of our own unbeneficial qualities that manifest.