Rebecca Hagelin - 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family

Table of Contents

Remember when you first laid eyes on your newborn baby? Remember how tiny and vulnerable he seemed; or how determined you were to always protect her? Most parents pray that their children will grow up to be strong, productive, and patriotic, with a robust moral sense.

But as soon as you bring your children into the world, others try to pry them from you. Crass marketers try to lure them into commercialism. Experts, from doctors to teachers, try to replace your good values with theirs. When we in the media talk about the culture wars what were really talking about is the battle for our kids hearts and minds.

Now, thankfully, Rebecca Hagelin has brought the ammunition that all of us, as parents, have long needed. In her terrific new book, 30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family, shes given us the perfect guide, the perfect handbook, to keep a toxic culture at bay while forging a closer, deeper, more meaningful relationship with our children.

Ive known Rebecca for many years, and her knowledge about cultural issues, the media, and the pressures on todays kids is vast. Shes also a loving, committed wife and mother, and a marketing wizard. Her writings and speeches have encouraged many parents and families over the years, including mine. But what marks her most is her undying faith in God, forgiveness, and the hope that each new day brings. Even though her message is a somber one, Rebeccas spirit is light-hearted and optimisticand her book provides practical solutions that, if put into practice, will strengthen each member of your family as well as the unit as a whole.

30 Ways in 30 Days to Save Your Family breaks down common parenting problems into manageable pieces and provides practical solutions that any frazzled parent can easily put to use. It is designed for todays parent, for todays problems; Im sure it will speak to you as it spoke to me.

This is the handbook I wish America had years ago. Reading it gave me hopeboth as a father and as a concerned citizen. Read and use Rebeccas book, and you can become the parent you always wanted to be.

Sean Hannity

I came very close to not writing this book.

How could Ian imperfect mother with an imperfect recordhave the moral authority to even suggest to other parents how to raise their kids?

Shortly after my first book, Home Invasion: Protecting Your Family in a Culture Thats Gone Stark Raving Mad hit the bookstores, a very-high profile writer for whom I have great respect said, Rebecca, I saw your book in the window of the bookstore. Wow. You have a lot of gutsyou have kids that can still embarrass you. Youre very braveor very foolishto write a book on parenting.

Her words stung more than she realized. Yes, I do have three children who are living testaments to all of the great successesand great mistakesIve made as a parent. And, yes, I have made many, many blunders. But I let that comment play over in my head one too many times, and soon I began to doubt whether I had any right to try to help any parent do anything. Despite the many moving letters from parents thanking me for the tips, in spite of the warm embraces I received from moms and dads, and even teens, who attended speeches I made across the country, the fear that I would be shamed as a flawed parent started building in my heart and mind. Why on earth would I write a second book?

Please understand, I have great kids. My doubts were not about them. Drew, Nick, and Kristin are precious blessingsand I so admire the young men and young lady they have become. At the writing of this book, they are 21, 19, and 16all are old enough to know the difference between right and wrong, yet still young enough to make serious mistakes that could affect the rest of their lives. I pray every day that they will make the right decisionsbut its now pretty much up to them to make their own choices. However, I can tell you this one thing for certain: They have been taught right and wrongthe two oldest did not leave our home wondering, and my youngest will not either.

Truth is a powerful tool. As parents, we have the obligation to step up to the plate and share what we know to be true with our kids. Too many moms and dads seem to be so concerned with image or political correctness that they fail to teach their kids what is noble, just, pure, and true. And I believe we have an obligation to help each other out, too. We parents arent looking for the perfect mom or perfect dad to emulatewe are looking for help, validation, and formulas that have worked for others. I have been blessed with a unique opportunity to share what I have learned with moms and dads who dont want to miss the obvious or make mistakes just because they didnt know any better. I now believe that to be silent about what I have learned, about what I know to be true, would be immoralsomething akin to a pediatrician withholding a medicine that he knows will help someone elses childjust because his own kids still get sick, too.

And I know there are plenty of parents who have wisdom to share, so in my column that is carried by Townhall.com, patriotpost.us, and other sites and papers across the country, I invited moms and dads to send me their own insights and tips on the thirty subjects I chose to write about. The e-mail came flooding in, and what you now hold in your hands is a work to which many of them contributed. In order to protect the privacy of people whose stories I share, I used only first names and in some cases, even changed those. I also edited some of the comments for clarity and brevity.

In addition to advice from other parents, I wanted input from my childrensome assurance that what I wrote was authentic and actually works. So, I involved Drew, Nick and Kristin in the process. However, I will say up frontthe inmates did not take over the asylum (a little joke there). And because they have never been parentsespecially not parents of themselvesI didnt incorporate all of their changes or suggestions. I did, however, listen carefully, cry a few tears at the mistakes I made in raising them, and incorporated lessons learned from the school of hard knocks.

Drew and Nick gave pretty blunt feedbackand I thank them with all of my heart for it. Weve always had a very close relationship, and Ive loved every minute of being the mom of my two boys. Drew and Nick, Im so proud of the young men you have become, and so very thankful that you have followed your passions and are pursuing the unique talents God has given each of you. Thanks for letting me hug on you endlessly throughout your childhood, and thank you for the ways you have shown your love to me.

When asked for specific points I should highlight, Drew, a pensive guy who is also blessed with a keen sense of humor and tons of creative talent, thought it was important for me to emphasize age-appropriateness in media consumption. In other words, to remind parents that movies or TV shows that might be unsuitable for seven-year-olds might be perfectly fine for fifteen-year-olds. He also said that he always believed my husband (Andy) and I didnt let him watch most R-rated flicks because we thought they would turn him into a bad person. My goodnessI discovered that I had failed miserably in explaining to our children that the main reason we are selective in our media choices is because much of the content is just plain raunchy. Andy and I decided long ago that media content that violates our consciences and what we understand to be right, would not be viewed in our household. It was heart-breaking to realize I had never adequately made the point that content can be wrong on its face. I suddenly remembered a saying my mother often used that illustrates the point, I dont know why they call X-rated movies adult moviesthey arent right for adults either!