Teaching Pride

Fresh off this gigantic Packer win and impending trip to the Super Bowl to beat the Steelers, I've thought a lot about pride in the last day or so. Before yesterday's game, most people could not stop talking about how great they thought the Packers would do and how fun it would be to go to the Super Bowl. Now that they've won, that excitement and PRIDE will only get bigger and more widely expressed. That has me thinking about the ways in which I can teach the concept of pride to my children. 


I want my sweet babies to have a sense of pride in our family, our country and of course in our sports teams. I want them to feel that where they came from is a place of happiness, hard work and love. Mostly, I want them to understand that where they came from is accepting of all, cares for one another and treats everyone with respect. I'd like to think that our family is like that, and I certainly hope that our country will eventually come to that point. I realize that is a work in progress, but I think we are well on our way. 

I do wonder though how to teach a sense of pride to the twins once they are old enough to understand it. Do they learn how to be prideful from seeing my husband and I having excitement for something? Do they pick up pride from us telling them to appreciate something? I think the latter is a bit like brainwashing but I could be wrong. I'd be curious to know what other parents think about this issue and how they plan or have already ingrained a sense of pride into their children. Share your opinions; share your stories. And, GO PACK GO!