hart
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Betsy Hart biography
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 …
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We see our own mortality as a parent ages
FROM THE HART: Aging seems all too natural. And if it can happen to my dad, it really can happen to anyone.
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Does backing tradition really equal hate?
BETSY HART: Certain people seem to be playing a game of chicken. The question is, how hard are such folks willing to press the pedal to the metal? What does “blinking” from the other players look like to them?
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The problem with personalized vows
So let’s get personal. About personally worded wedding vows, that is. Here’s a real-world example from Brides.com (edited for space): From a bride, to her groom: You have made me feel moreloved than I ever thought possible . I choose you today. And I would …Read More
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Marriages matters to the kids involved
BETSY HART: Just last week I had a young local reporter interview me and ask, as if he thought it were a quaint idea that might be fun to explore, “You write about marriage a good bit, but just why is it you think marriage is so important?” Here’s why.
The lessons kids (and parents) need to learn
Of course, the bottom line is that thinking in terms of balance and shaping— whether in character traits or life lessons — requires something of us as parents.
Wanting it all and getting little satisfaction
The fallout from the essay “Why Women Still Can’t Have It All” in the current Atlantic Magazine is still loudly echoing in the blogosphere. But for the most part, the cacophony of voices in response has rung as hollow as the original piece. In her …
Dawn Loggins’ story a great reminder for my own parenting
We parents are too often terrified of letting our kids face disappointment, and letting them figure out that they will actually live in spite of it.
Dawn Loggins’ story a great reminder for my own parenting
We parents are too often terrified of letting our kids face disappointment, and letting them figure out that they will actually live in spite of it.
Dawn Loggins’ story a great reminder for my own parenting
We parents are too often terrified of letting our kids face disappointment, and letting them figure out that they will actually live in spite of it.
Drinking for two: Time to lighten up a little on alcohol and pregnancy
BETSY HART: Now before I get deluged by readers horrified that I would write a “pro-baby mama and drinking” column, take a chill pill, as my kids would say.
Planning a wedding a little different this time
Joining a life with another, perhaps especially at our ages and certainly with all our children (eight), is no small undertaking. The most important things, the preparations for our marriage itself, are taking place more or less behind the scenes. Ironically, to me, what quickly takes center stage, though really it lasts only a moment, is the wedding day itself.
Getting a second chance at first love
There are no games with Tom. He let me know from the beginning that he was “all in,” that he was courting me. That’s the definition of “manly,” in my dictionary.
Not all women want to climb the corporate ladder
Women often freely choose to say “no, thanks,” sometimes after they’ve gotten to the top itself (at work). And that’s a problem, say these authors. But a problem for whom?
The commencement speech you won’t hear
BETSY HART: I admired Steve Jobs and love my Mac products as much as the next person. But throughout this [commencement] speech, Jobs was almost an avatar for the extreme individualism that has come to rule our age and, I would argue, leads to misery more than contentment.
Why Betsy Hart hates this TV commercial
BETSY HART: This commercial, and the culture it represents, is so pathetic. It’s not that it depicts reality. It’s that it’s depicting a “reality” that isn’t real at all.
Big difference between what we want and truly need
How often are we guilty in our relationships of turning our desires into our needs? I heard a pastor friend speak wisely about this very thing lately in connection to our relationship with God.
Married man tells the story of his affair
I hadn’t yet shared a story of a man who had been involved in an affair — in this case, one who almost lost his decades-long marriage over it. Meet “Mike.” Mike wrote me a beautiful letter after he saw my most recent column on “Denise.” I receive many such notes from people kindly sharing their stories with me, and I always appreciate them., but this one stood out.
Women ask for too much and settle for too little
What so few women seem to insist upon, though, is a real suitor. A good man wants the woman he loves to know that she is wanted. Whether or not there are flowers or love notes involved, it will simply be natural for him to make sure she is secure in his honest intentions of marriage for her.
After an affair, a marriage heals
It’s been a little over a year now since my friend “Denise” (not her real name) discovered her husband’s longstanding infidelity. Married over 20 years with children still at home, she experienced the betrayal like one might a hurricane. But more than a year later, she and her husband are still standing. And they are doing it together.
Hollywood offers mythical version of childbirth
It continues to amaze me that women in the Western world have babies at all today. Why? Because of the excruciatingly painful — and very loud — way that childbirth is almost always portrayed by Hollywood.