Hi friends - I hope you’ll tun into “It Takes a Parent” today at 12 noon central, on AM1160 WYLL, or streaming live at www.wyll.com.

My first guest is New York attorney Philip Howard, who heads a public interest group called “The Common Good” - (commongood.org). He argues that we have become a society obsessed with eliminating risk, especially when it comes to our kids and safety, and that this approach is nothing short of dangerous. He offers some interesting strategies for changing that thinking. Philip’s articles have appeared in the New York times, the Wall Street Journal and many other publications, and you’ll want to get his insights on how we might be putting our kids at risk our by keeping them “safe!”

Then, I get to talk to Matthew Locricchio, author of “the 2nd International Cookbook for Kids.” This is a really fun cook book that can draw kids into cooking on their own - and for the family! As a single mom to four kids who think a regular diet of chicken nuggets would be just fine, I love his ideas and have started to implement them in my home. After the show I’ll be posting one of the recipes in his book.

So, tune in in a few minutes or listen here after the show via podcast or with our simple “one-click” slide-bar (the shows will now be posted my Monday evening) and of course on Fridays you can go to NationalReview.com and hear “It Takes a Parent” there.

Hey, as always thanks for stopping by - and have a great week!

Betsy Hart

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Yes! Please tune in to my radio show today to hear more. I’ll be talking with Walt Mueller, President of thw Center for Parent Youth Understanding (www.CPYU.org) in Pennsylvania, who will walk us through how to help our kids think about the “cultural soup” they are surrounded by, not just run from it. Because after all - we can’t!

Walt is a Christian, and his website is geared to Christian families - but it’s great for any parent of a child or teen.

In the Heart Beat of the show, we’ll get to “This Old Marriage” and “Baby Organizers.”

I hope you tune in today at noon central to WYLL/AM1160, or listen streaming on www.wyll.com, or after the show here or later in the week on NationalReview.com

Have a terrific Sunday, and as always, thanks for stopping by.

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Hi Friends - I just got back from speaking to Fellowship Community Church in Salem, Virginia, for the weekend. I had a great time! FCC is a wonderful group of people, and for the folks I met there who are coming to my blog for the first time - it’s great to meet you here, and it was great to meet you in Virginia. Thanks for welcoming me so warmly. Feel free to drop a line here or via the contact button, and just say “hello.”

Meanwhile, I hope you got a chance to listen to today’s radio show, “It Takes a Parent,” on whether or not we as modern parents are so overprotecting our kids that we are doing them harm? No worries if you missed it. You’ll be able to get the podcast here tomorrow, or later in the week from NationalReview.com.

It’s a “best of Betsy” show so to speak. Starting this week it’s all new shows again as my producers and I have revamped the revamped a bit after listening to your great input and suggestions. And by the way? Keep them coming - we read them all.

Thanks for stopping by!

Betsy

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To listen to Betsy’s show you now have to options:
1. Listen Online in this Window: Click the right arrow to start the audio slider.
2. Listen Offline or in Another Window: Click the “Download” button.

(Hi Friends - while we are at work revamping the radio show, this week’s and next week’s broadcasts will be “The Best of It Takes a Parent” episodes).

Hi Friends - This week on my radio show, “It Takes a Parent,” I have 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 the 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?

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

P.S. - Thanks for all your notes and e-mails. I read every single one, even when I can’t answer them all.

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To listen to Betsy’s show you now have to options:
1. Listen Online in this Window: Click the right arrow to start the audio slider.
2. Listen Offline or in Another Window: Click the “Download” button.

Hi Friends - my producers and I are in the process of adding some new twists to my radio show, “It Takes a Parent,” so this week’s podcast is getting up late, but - I think you’ll want to tune in to last Sunday’s show as it’s about the economy and handling finances and what a timely message even though it’s a show which is repeating from July 27th.

David Briggs from the “Good Sense” stewardship ministry at Willow Creek Community Church joins me to talk finances, and savings, and staying out of debt even in turbulent times. Be sure to use the new “one-click” feature above which allows you to easily hear the radio show.

Hey, if you have ideas for the radio show or features you’d like to see - now is the time to tell me. Contact me by clicking the envelope above.

Soon, Scripps Howard News Service will be adding the “It takes a Parent” show to their website, so stay tuned for more!

Cheers - Betsy Hart

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I hope you like this new audio feature which lets you listen to my podcasts instantly! (If you want to download the program instead and listen to it later just click the “Download” link.)

And here’s this week’s column on the dangers of. . . the hula hoop? Yep!

my column

Meanwhile, I hope you tune in to my radio show, “It Takes a Parent,” this Sunday at noon central time, AM1160/WYLL Chicago, streaming live on WYLL.com, or later here on my website or, on Fridays, that week’s show is podcast and archived on www.nationalreview.com. I’ll be talking with Dr. David Elkind, author of the block buster best-seller “The Hurried Child,” on what happens when we push our kids to grow up too fast? Twenty-five years after the release of the book, the trend may be worse than ever. How can we give childhood back to our kids? I also talk to Dr. Bennett Leventhal from the University of Illinois Chicago. A renowned juvenile psychiatrist, he sheds light on the news this week that pediatric suicides are on the rise after years of having leveled off. I hope you tune in for some really valuable information.

Later, I’ll be posting some political columns I’ve done for the “Chicago Daily Observer” this week on the Sarah Palin choice - and why she makes so many people so hysterically nervous!

I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for stopping by, and please remember that I read all the e-mails I receive, even when I can’t answer each one.

And thank you!

Betsy

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. . . 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

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

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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