Eagle Court of Honor

Joseph will receive the Rank of Eagle at a special court of honor on May 30, 2009 at 2:00 p.m. Ryan L. and Evan P. will also be honored at that time. I know pride is bad, so I just feel an immense amount of naches (Naches - Joy: Gratification, especially from children.)

Roger asked me what I mean when I say I feel naches, so I guess I'd better explain. Naches is a concept I learned from the book "Emotions Revealed." It says, "How do you feel when you hear that your son or daughter was accepted by the best college, performed beautifully in a recital, got an award from the scout troop, or accomplished anything else that matters? We could say proud, but it isn't specific enough to the pattern of physical sensations parents feel when their child accomplishes something important, perhaps even exceeding the parents themselves. In Yiddish, however, there is a specific word for just this experience: naches. Author Leo Rosten defines naches as 'the glow of pleasure-plus-pride that only a child can give to its parents.'"

He goes on to say "Naches ensures parental investment in facilitating the growth and achievements of their children. Unfortunately, some parents don't feel naches when their children excel, reaching beyond what the parents have done. Such envious parents are often competitive with their children, which can be very destructive to both parent and child."

I don't think it's always parent-child competition that causes parents to suppress their feelings of naches. I believe that in a religious culture that tends to shun pride as an evil emotion, sometimes parents deny themselves the feeling of naches (consequently denying their children the nurturing that the expression of their naches brings) in an effort to be "holy." In my opinion, the sweet, pure feelings of naches is an appropriate, godlike emotion that parents should nurture in themselves and express to their children.

"Well done thou good and faithful servant," is one of the ultimate expressions of naches. I think our children need to hear that from more than just God and at more times than at the final judgement.

Wow, now I need to go eat my baked potato.