Betsy Hart
Betsy Hart is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service. Her column on cultural and family issues, From the Hart, is distributed each week to hundreds of newspapers cross the country. It regularly appears in The Chicago Sun-Times, The Denver Rocky Mountain News, The Boston Herald, The Washington Times and many other major papers.
Hart’s first book, It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting Our Kids – and What to Do About It, was a top seller for its publisher, Putnam Books. The book received tremendous media attention and praise and was endorsed by such luminaries as Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Kate O’Beirne, and other leading public figures. Echoing the acclaim, Sean Hannity told his audience when Hart appeared on FOX’s Hannity and Colmes show to discuss It Takes a Parent, “I love this book!”
Hart hosts her own radio program featuring commentary and common sense insights on parenting and family life. Her new show, It Takes a Parent, is featured on Chicago’s WYLL/AM1160 radio, a 50,000 watt Salem Communications owned station, on Thursdays at 2:00 pm.
Hart is already a frequent guest on television and radio. She often appears on the FOX News Channel and other television and radio networks offering her insights on the news events of the day. She was a regular guest on ABC’s long-running hit show Politically Incorrect, whose host Bill Maher told his television audience of Hart, “She is one of our favorites here on the show!”
Articles about her have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Times, Maclean’s, The Ladies Home Journal and many other publications. In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Hart was featured as one of America’s top five women columnists.
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
The Seven Habits of the Successful Home (The 7 A’s of the Heart)
AIMING for right things (their character over their accomplishments) See our children ACCURATELY (they are not inherently wise – they need a parent’s guidance!) Realize We Parents have to be AUTHORITIES in their lives (Our kids need leadership) Let our children experience ADVERSITY (it’s the building block of character) Helping our kids develop an ATTITUDE of gratitude Rightly AFFIRMING them - not because they are perfect “as is,” but because they can choose to “do better” tomorrow! Being their ADVOCATES – this means being less concerned about whether our children like us when they are 13, than whether they are 30!
It Takes a Parent – not an Expert – to raise a Child
Today’s moms and dads are so intimidated by the parenting “experts.” I know parents who literally wait to see what that month’s issues of the parenting magazines have to say about how they should raise their little ones. But the history of the parenting experts is full of lots of contradictions – and not a little nuttiness. Like the depression era “expert” that convinced millions of moms not to hug their kids! The experts have a lot of good things to say. But it’s only the confident parent, who knows that he needs to be a leader in his child’s life, who can figure out what makes sense from the experts, and what doesn’t, and what his own child needs to thrive.
The Self-Delusion of Self-Esteem
When we teach our children that they are “awesome” right now, we don’t give them the encouragement or tools they need to “do better” tomorrow! There are amazing new studies that show how the emphasis on self-esteem and “you are smart” today. . . stunt our children’s ability to grow intellectually, personally, and spiritually over the next days.
Moms – You can’t serve your kids well if you forget about YOU
How frustrating it is for me to hear a mom of one or two healthy young kids say “I can’t even go to the bathroom by myself!” I always want to ask, why not? Junior will benefit from learning early that his parents love him like crazy – AND the world doesn’t revolve around him! He’ll also benefit from being allowed to entertain himself.
We have a modern mythology that stay-at-home moms have been spending 3 hours a day of constructive floor time with little junior since the beginning of time. This is one (semi) “stay-at-home” moms who knows how untrue and even destructive that mythology can be. Why? Because it causes too many moms to think their world needs to revolve around junior. And that’s not helpful for mom or little one!
Betsy Hart is a nationally syndicated columnist for the Scripps Howard News Service. Her column on cultural and family issues, From the Hart, is distributed each week to hundreds of newspapers cross the country. It regularly appears in The Chicago Sun-Times, The Denver Rocky Mountain News, The Boston Herald, The Washington Times and many other major papers.
Hart’s first book, It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting Our Kids – and What to Do About It, was a top seller for its publisher, Putnam Books. The book received tremendous media attention and praise and was endorsed by such luminaries as Bill Bennett, Laura Ingraham, Kate O’Beirne, and other leading public figures. Echoing the acclaim, Sean Hannity told his audience when Hart appeared on FOX’s Hannity and Colmes show to discuss It Takes a Parent, “I love this book!”
Hart hosts her own radio program featuring commentary and common sense insights on parenting and family life. Her new show, It Takes a Parent, is featured on Chicago’s WYLL/AM1160 radio, a 50,000 watt Salem Communications owned station, on Thursdays at 2:00 pm.
Hart is already a frequent guest on television and radio. She often appears on the FOX News Channel and other television and radio networks offering her insights on the news events of the day. She was a regular guest on ABC’s long-running hit show Politically Incorrect, whose host Bill Maher told his television audience of Hart, “She is one of our favorites here on the show!”
Articles about her have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Times, Maclean’s, The Ladies Home Journal and many other publications. In an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Hart was featured as one of America’s top five women columnists.
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
The Seven Habits of the Successful Home (The 7 A’s of the Heart)
AIMING for right things (their character over their accomplishments) See our children ACCURATELY (they are not inherently wise – they need a parent’s guidance!) Realize We Parents have to be AUTHORITIES in their lives (Our kids need leadership) Let our children experience ADVERSITY (it’s the building block of character) Helping our kids develop an ATTITUDE of gratitude Rightly AFFIRMING them - not because they are perfect “as is,” but because they can choose to “do better” tomorrow! Being their ADVOCATES – this means being less concerned about whether our children like us when they are 13, than whether they are 30!
It Takes a Parent – not an Expert – to raise a Child
Today’s moms and dads are so intimidated by the parenting “experts.” I know parents who literally wait to see what that month’s issues of the parenting magazines have to say about how they should raise their little ones. But the history of the parenting experts is full of lots of contradictions – and not a little nuttiness. Like the depression era “expert” that convinced millions of moms not to hug their kids! The experts have a lot of good things to say. But it’s only the confident parent, who knows that he needs to be a leader in his child’s life, who can figure out what makes sense from the experts, and what doesn’t, and what his own child needs to thrive.
The Self-Delusion of Self-Esteem
When we teach our children that they are “awesome” right now, we don’t give them the encouragement or tools they need to “do better” tomorrow! There are amazing new studies that show how the emphasis on self-esteem and “you are smart” today. . . stunt our children’s ability to grow intellectually, personally, and spiritually over the next days.
Moms – You can’t serve your kids well if you forget about YOU
How frustrating it is for me to hear a mom of one or two healthy young kids say “I can’t even go to the bathroom by myself!” I always want to ask, why not? Junior will benefit from learning early that his parents love him like crazy – AND the world doesn’t revolve around him! He’ll also benefit from being allowed to entertain himself.
We have a modern mythology that stay-at-home moms have been spending 3 hours a day of constructive floor time with little junior since the beginning of time. This is one (semi) “stay-at-home” moms who knows how untrue and even destructive that mythology can be. Why? Because it causes too many moms to think their world needs to revolve around junior. And that’s not helpful for mom or little one!
