. . . how can we teach our kids that work is an inherently good thing? It’s not just about making money, it’s not a necessary evil one has to do to get to the other “good” stuff in life, which even some in our Christian culture teach. Rather, “work” is a wholesome thing - it was, after all, present in the garden before the fall. So on Labor Day and every day in a culture which has such a twisted understanding of work, how do we teach our children to value the creative, redemptive, and protective value of work? Oh heck, how do we just get them to do a few chores without complaining??

Listen today when I talk to writer Tony Woodlief, and we expand from the themes of his Wall Street Journal article I posted earlier this week. (You can find more of his funny and engaging work on family life and, among other things, raising boys into men!) at www.tonywoodlief.com.

I hope you tune in today at WYLL/AM1160 Chicago at noon, or listen live via streaming at www.wyll.com. Later listen here by clicking the microphone, or, at the end of the week, get a podcast of the show on NationalReview.com.

And thanks for stopping by!

Betsy Hart

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Hi friends - I hope you listen to today’s “It Takes a Parent” show when I get to talk internet safety with Karen Jenkins of Bsafe Online. Kids are starting school, and are more likely to plug into their network of friends online, and get onto or get back onto “Facebook” and similar sites etc. This is also the time when “cyber bullying” starts back up for many kids. The internet can be a wonderful tool - but it can also be dangerous to your kids in ways you as a parent might not fully appreciate. (And anyone who knows me knows that when it comes to kids I don’t frighten easily.) Find out what you can do to protect your family!

Bsafe is a top rated, easy to use internet filter, and for a limited time Bsafe is giving a 20 percent discount to my listeners! Just go to bsafe.com, and put in my name, betsy, as your promotion code when you download the filter.

Be sure to tune in today at noon central time, WYLL.com Chicago (AM1160), www.wyll.com, here after the show, or later in the week podcast on nationalreview.com.

(And again, I appreciate all your comments and read all my e-mail, even if I can’t respond to everyone personally.)

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Betsy

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Hi Friends - okay, I’m getting a lot of e-mails asking - “where are you??” because I haven’t been posting regularly. I guess this week’s column is part of the answer (and thanks for all of you who have checked in.)

my column

Meanwhile, I have been doing a lot of work on the new, hour long radio show, “It Takes a Parent,” and many of you have been kind enough to tell me you like the longer format. Please continue to let my producer and me hear your suggestions and comments. And please do NOT miss this week’s show. It is one of my all time favorites, and it is information packed. This week I had the honor of talking with Dr. Calvin Beisner (rhymes with ‘Nice - ner”) He wears many hats, one of which is the National Spokesman for the Cornwall Alliance for the Stewardship of Creation.

Cornwall Alliance

This week, Dr. Beisner and I discuss the growing seduction of many well meaning evangelicals into the global “climate change” political movement, and the devastating repercussion for the poor that could have around the world. You will not want to miss the discussion of the real story about climate change, why and how many Christians in the United States are being misled on this issue, and the principles behind rightly stewarding God’s creation.

And by the way, you may be more than a little surprised (and horrified) to find out where the money to promote much of the global warming “hype” in the Christian community is coming from (this from the Institute for Religion and Democracy)

Do Some “Humanitarians” Hate People?

Here’s another good website for you on this issue:

Wegetit.org

Be sure to tune in to AM1160/WYLL Chicago at noon on Sunday, listen live at WYLL.com, or check back here later to tune into the show or get a podcast from nationalreview.com.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Betsy Hart

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Hi friends - hope you’ll call in to “It Takes a Parent” today at noon central time. AM1160/wyll, or streaming on wyll.com. We’re going to try to get to a lot of topics, but we’ll start by talking about the mom who created an international uproar when she allowed her 9-year-old son to ride the NYC subway by himself. I say good for her, but a lot of folks think I’m crazy too.

Are we overprotecting our kids? Are we denying them the lessons that would teach them to handle adversity and roll with life’s punches? I think so.

Or, do we live in an age when we have no choice but to be a little overprotective if we want to be good parents? Give me a call at 847-956-5042.

I Look forward to hearing from you - Betsy Hart

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Hi Friends - I wanted to let you know that this Sunday morning, 10:30 on
CBS/channel 2, I’m the featured “Chicago personality” on the “hot seat” with Rob
Johnson. We talk about a lot of parenting issues - it’s a fun segment and I
thought you might want to know.

Then Sunday at noon, I’ll be taking your phone calls on “It Takes a Parent” as we talk about a lot of hot parenting issues - overagressive (or is it just “confident”?) young teenage girls pursuing boys, and hear what some experts say about girls dressing “sexy” - it’s all good in their view. Plus, new studies say parenting is depressing. But that doesn’t depress me -we’ll talk about it on Sunday. Tune in to AM1160/WYLL Chicago, or listen live at www.wyll.com, and get ready to call at 847-956-5042

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Yep - Hi friends.  I’ve been “off” this week because I’ve been enjoying a wonderful family camp (in blazing hot Missouri) with my kids.  (We just finished the “high ropes” course.    That’s about as much as much excitement as I can handle for a day!) In any event, just a quick post of this week’s column - it’s all about dollars, and some sense (cents?)

You’ll have to paste in the link this week. . .

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/betsyhart/1085466,CST-FTR-hart01.article

Meanwhile, be sure to tune in to tomorrow’s radio show.  With kids heading back to school in just a few weeks - some sooner -  I talked with Jeanne Allen, head of the Center for Education Reform in Washington, D.C.  From how to approach a school to get what you want as a parent, to the state of education reform around the county and why it matters, to the reason we shouldn’t always believe those “great” school standardized test results, Jeanne covers it all.

I think you’ll also enjoy some of the topics int he “heart beat” section of the show - that’s wehre I get to talk about the news topics you aren’t hearing about anywhere else.

I hope you take time to listen live at noon, central time on WYLL/AM1160 Chicago or streaming live on www.wyll.com, or here on Monday or later in the week get a podcast from NationalReview.com.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Hi friends - I hope you’ll tune into the radio show today when I talk to financial adviser David Briggs about Americans and our increasing personal debt load. He offers two quick and immediate ways to change the way we think about money that I KNOW will change my financial life. You won’t want to miss them. I’ve also got some items for the “Hart Beat” section of the show which no one else is talking about. That’s AM1160/WYLL Chicago, noon Sunday (central time) or streaming live at wyll.com. Monday you can get the audio here, and later in the week a podcast from NationalReview.com.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and keep those e-mails coming! Even when I can’t respond to them all, I read and appreciate each one.

Betsy Hart

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Hi Friends - I hope you’ll listen in to the radio show today (noon, WYLL/AM1160 Chicago) when I talk with Meredith O’Brien, author of “A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum,” and Chris Thurber, a psychologist and researcher with the American Camping Association. What is this with moms and dads being the ones who can’t let go? Dr. Thurber talks a lot about the importance of kids being given “opportunities for challenge” - but it doesn’t appear we parents are as willing to do that as we should be, and there are repercussions.

Also, lost of family news to go over too - I hope you’ll tune in, listen to the show here tomorrow, or get a podcast from NationalReview.com.

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Betsy Hart

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Hi friends, in addition to a lot of “parenting news” in today’s new and expanded “It Takes a Parent” show, I will talk to Steve Moore, and ask him “where have all the European babies gone”? As the New York Times recently chronicled, birth rates in Europe have plummeted to dangerous levels, dangerous because people aren’t having enough children to replace themselves, support the economy, older retirees, etc. I argue the cultural costs - no more is there a sense of sacrifice to raise the next generation, or a sense that children are inherently precious - are higher.

Are we in the West increasingly too selfish to have kids? Is it possible the “birth dearth” will hit the United States?

Steve Moore, an editorial page editor at the Wall Street Journal and an economist who has studied this issue at length, will talk to me about it today at noon.

Tune in to AM1160/WYLL in Chicago, listen live at WYLL.com, or later listen here or get the podcast at NationalReview.com.

As always, thanks for listening and for stopping by.

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Hi friends - Remember, it “It Takes a Parent” moves to its new date and time this week, Sundays at noon for a full hour. Be sure to listen this week as I talk to Kathleen Parker, author of the new book “Save the Males,” and Jessica DeGroot of the Third Path Institute, who seems to think that men’s and women’s roles can (should?) be even more amorphous than they are now.

That’s AM1160 WYLL Chicago at noon on Sunday, streaming live at WYLL.com, or afterwards listen here or get a podcast from NationalReview.com.

As always, thanks for stopping by. And have a great 4th!

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