Sin and the Gospel

I don't know if it's the changing season, but we've been dealing with some majorly bad attitudes in Nathan.  I know part of it is he's learning to express his opinion and assert himself, but.... Oh my.  I also know, as much as it's hard to admit it, that it is his sin nature rearing it's ugly head.  We're trying to discuss about how bad attitude (yelling, throwing, stomping, screaming, disrespect) is sin and it makes God sad.  To which he sometimes replies, "No it doesn't."  (And tell me that's not sin nature!)
A few weeks ago, Nathan did pray to ask Jesus into his heart.  Even though I don't think it's for real yet, I was still really happy because it's a step.  Mainly the reason I don't think it's for real is because he doesn't admit he's a sinner.  He acknowledges that there is bad stuff inside of him, but not that he's done anything bad.  So that tells me he can't really be accepting Christ, because that involves confessing and turning from sin.
The whole conversation arose from our family Bible reading.  We're going through Romans, and it talks a lot about sin.  When we read, I re-word things to put it on his level.  (Like, instead of Romans 3:23 "All have sinned" I say, "All have done bad things," and we talk about age-appropriate examples of sinning.)  It didn't come about from me telling him a cute story, or me preaching at him, but what he picked up from hearing the Word of God.  It reminded me of a quote from the book my best friend and I are going through during Sunday school hour in the nursery - Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp:

People frequently ask if I expected my children to become believers.  I usually reply that the gospel is powerful and attractive.  It uniquely meets the needs of fallen humanity.  Therefore, I expected that God's Word would be the power of God to salvation for my children.

That kind of sums up my belief.  I can preach all I want, but it's God who will attract my children.  Let me tell you, it does kind of scare me to think I can't control this decision in their lives.  It's the one thing I want most for my children, to love and accept Christ.  But it's not something I can do for them, or force them to do.  It's their own personal decision, and it's the most important one they'll ever make.