Hi Friends - well today producer Lynne (in absentia, so to speak) and I checked in on how our summertime with our kids is going in comparison for how we had planned to have it go! You may remember that in May, we talked with David Staal from Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington (he heads up the Promiseland Children’s ministry there) about how to build up our kids spiritually and personally over the summer, and not go crazy ourselves! He had some great tips, and Lynne and I promised to try to implement them in our own families. (See my radio blog entry from May 24 for more).

Today, almost halfway into the summer (yikes!) we talked about how we are doing with those goals. I talked to producer Lynne, who is on vacation in Wisconsin (lucky gal) via phone.

Listen to the show to see whether or not our summer is living up to expections!

But first I talked about something that’s frustrating me lately. Church hoppers! As dear Roman Catholic friends have said to me, “you Protestants are so focused on your ‘personal relationship with Christ’ you sometimes forget it’s just not all about you!” Wow, are they right.

I wrote about that very subject this week:

http://www.shns.com/shns/g_index2.cfm?action=detail&pk=HART-07-05-07

Meanwhile, we welcomed a new sponsor to the show, “Beautiful Beginnings” fine baby furninishings and clothes (and they are not kidding when they say beautiful!) in Western Springs and Lincoln Park. You can find out more under “Meet Our Sponsors.” Welcome, Beautiful Beginnings!

Next week, producer Lynne is back and we talk to Ken Sande, head of the respected International ministry Peacemaker Ministries, on how to help our kids learn to sucesfully deal with conflict with friends and siblings. I think Lynne and I would like to pull him into a closed room with us and our kids for about a week, but in the meantime we’ll settle for talking to him on the show.

And hey, don’t forget to check out my new feature, “The Daily Parenting Tip” - I’d love to know what you think, and to hear your tips too!

In the meantime, thanks for visiting -

Betsy Hart

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I hope you had a great 4th of July.

Here’s today’s parenting tip. Did your mother say things like mine “no reading at the dinner table”? I’m reversing that advice. We’ve all heard how important it is to get our families togeter for dinner a few nights a week at least. Sharing a meal together has a great impact on kids. I’ve found that one way to pull my family together at mealtime isn’t with my cooking! The kids suffer through that, I’m afriad. Nor is it with anybody’s “sparkling conversation.” It’s great to have discussions, and we do. But with one adult and 4 kids of very different ages (6 to 13) those conversations aren’t always spell binding and/or they require a lot of moderation on my part which can be draining.

But what my kids really like is to spend a few minutes a few evenings a week reading something together at dinnertime.. In our home it tends to be some sort of Christian content which is fun and colorful and which the kids enjoy. It might be a few minutes in “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” series, “The Young Pilgrim’s Progress,” or “The Life of Christ for the Very Young.” Whatever it is I make sure it’s something that will engage the kids, and I don’t overdo it. But a little bit of reading, and maybe one or two questions about what we’ve read, even if just a few nights a week, is a great way to pull my family together that’s (relatively) easy for mom, and makes the kids look forward to mealtime together.

Now, if I could just get them to be more enthusiastic about “eating their greens. . . ” If YOU have a tip on that, please send it along - thanks for reading, and remember, you can listen to a podcast of my new radio show “It Takes a Parent” anytime via podcast from this site.

Have a great day.

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