My name is Kara. I am a wife to my wonderful and supportive husband Chris (2010) and mother to an energetic, opinionated little girl “Jenn” (2012) and sweet, emotionally intelligent second daughter “Emma” (2014), our first son “Rhett” (2016), second son “Ranger” (2019) and Max (2022). We moved form the vibrant city life in Boston to farm life and homesteading in New Hampshire.
Before having kids, I was a high school teacher and worked closely with pre-teens and teens for many years both in the school system and the community and it’s when I first became passionate about parenting. I thought I knew everything there was about kids. I was a perfectionist and ready to take on the idealized life my husband and I dreamed up with 5 happy kids running around our home and the house filled with love and peace.
SCREEEECH! That’s the sound of me actually having kids and realizing what a failure I was…
My birth didn’t go as planned
I suffered from postpartum depression and anxiety.
Taming tantrums was overwhelming.
I didn’t really enjoy playing with my kids.
Even though I knew about tweens and teens, parenting my own kids was harder.
And that’s when Extremely Good Parenting started taking shape. I decided I wanted to press into those pains. I wanted to help other parents understand that to be a good parent and even a great parent doesn’t mean perfection. It means we have to recognize our failures even when it’s painful. We have to ask forgiveness from our kids and not dwell on the past.
Ultimately that we do little intentional steps of parenting today to raise great kids and adults tomorrow, understanding that when we know better, we do better. Because we’re all made from lots of mistakes, but being willing to rise above makes us good parents.
See where I have been seen and featured in the news & online.
In early pregnancy and the first couple of ears of having kids, I became an advocate for natural birth & parenting, breastfeeding, and similar in my community. I was the organizer and host of the first ever Big Latch On OKC, an active member and mentor in Milk Moms, and an organizer and event planner for the Great Cloth Diaper Change for 3 years.
So my training, my experiences, and my passions merged and Extremely Good Parenting was born.
Email us at community@karacarrero.com
For PR inquiries, see an overview of my site & services on the hire me page.
Find our more information about the Extremely Good Parenting Team here.
Fun facts about the Carrero Family
- We moved from OKC to Boston in the Spring of 2015 having never been to New England before stepping off the plane and then away from to what we hope is our forever home in New Hampshire in May 2021.
- My degree is in secondary education with an emphasis in research and adolescent child development.
- We live on a farm and have lots of animals including cows, chickens, horses, and goats! We have a St. Bernard/Something stubborn mix (probably Aussie) named Samson.
- I forget that my parenting styles and preferences aren’t mainstream. So when our girls see toys with batteries and clothes with a bunch of characters and words on them, they are completely mesmerized.
- My husband and I met at a Bible study in college that I was hosting at my house. I made cookies to take to his soccer game the next week and still get blamed for him losing his keys that night, but I am just thinking it was an act of God.
- I have a deep love for all things 1940s and Rome… just not Rome in the 1940s.
- Writing and being a digital entreprenuer has provided me with the amazing opportunity to work from home while never missing out on my kids’ lives, replace my income, and do what I love in life… which is helping people. Either through my writing or consulting to help them reach their own audiences.
- We love making deep, meaningful connections and relationships in life and my husband can literally talk to anyone for hours.
- I am an INFJ personality type, so if you email me, just keep that in mind 😉
This site is a tale of our lives and an authentic look into who we are and what we love.
I love sharing both my struggles and my victories as a mother, because without reality of day-to-day life, my blog wouldn’t be worth reading.
- I am passionate about supporting mothers in their season of life parents in their journey to raise independent and well-rounded kids, and in connecting with others, creating meaningful relationships.
- I am a firm believer in intentional parenting and its application as a one-size-fits-all parenting method.
- And I am an advocate for natural motherhood (birth & breastfeeding), helping people both virtually and in real life achieve their birth and breastfeeding goals.
As Christians, faith is an important part of who we are. It is ever-present in our daily lives and our parenting. We strive to live by the spirit and to respect the world that God created. We are passionate about local and embrace a low-impact and eco-friendly lifestyle. While both are part of who we are, my community of readers are from different backgrounds, faiths, and convictions so I hope you will find yourself welcome here!
For more about me and my current season of life, read one of my popular posts on teaching tots consequences or how we try to parent without saying no.
Bonnie Frank
Hi there! I found you on the 100 day challenge blog hop and am interested in reading more about the curriculum you create for homeschool families. I’m a former teacher and have always supported homeschooling, although I didn’t do it for my kiddos…I realize my limits!
Jewel
I like your blog. I look forward to reading more. Thanks!
Kara
Thank you!
Linda Bologna (nickname Kinder)
Hi Kara! This sounds so interesting! I am a grandmother who has my nine-year-old granddaughter almost constantly. She has several disabilities and learning problems, so I find many ways to reteach the curriculum in ways she can comprehend. We call her our veggie-girl, because she loves veggies. The roasted cauliflower will be a hit, I’m sure.
I hope you are enjoying your new life in Boston. We only get there from our Ohio home once or twice a year, to visit relatives. We love the energy of the city. We love the fact that there are so many different places to enjoy, the ocean, and the historic and scenic places. It is close to Maine and New Hampshire, and wonderful day trips. Our kids used to love climbing the rocks at Nahant Beach, and playing at Revere Beach. We began going there when my husband’s grandmother moved there from Naples, Italy, many years ago. So all of this fun is mixed with the Italian culture, too. I would like to join your online community, and hear about all your ideas for helping children.
Kara Carrero
Your comment made my day! What a blessing it is to get to be such a central part of her life. Hope she loves the cauliflower!
Boston is so wonderful and we love all the traveling throughout New England that can be done so, so easily. We live in a very Italian part of town 🙂 and we just love it.
Welcome. <3
Dawn
I’m so enjoying reading your blog! It’s rare that I find another blogger whose ideas about parenting line up with my own. Thanks for writing honestly and Biblically. Looking forward to reading more from you in the near future.