Karen Bresnahan's blog | Kids in the House

Idaho journalist and mother

Karen Bresnahan is a journalist, photographer and artist from Boise, Idaho. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Photography from the University of Idaho and owns Idaho Naturals Photography and Desertscapes, KB Lifelines Positive Quotes, and Romantic Idaho Weddings. She is the proud mother of 3 grown children and 2 grandchildren. Karen enjoys writing about health and fitness, motivation, positive relationships and parenting. You can email her at idahokaren1111@gmail.com or message her on Twitter @idaho1111, visit her website at idahonaturals.com or see idahonaturalkaren on Instagram. See more of her writing at https://plus.google.com/u/0/110931720229028361067

6 Ways to Take Care of Yourself So You Can Be a Better Mom

Being a mother is a full time, 24 hour job, as we all know. It takes constant energy, commitment, patience, planning and perseverance. It’s not easy. Even daily tasks like cooking dinner, doing laundry and cleaning the house can seem overwhelming at times. Motherhood can take its toll on you because of factors like lack of sleep, changing schedules and increasing stress levels.

Life After Christmas: Dealing With the Holiday Letdown

Many families go through it every year. It’s like the quiet after the storm, or you could call it the “aftermath of Christmas,” and it isn’t always pretty. Christmas is like a fantasy-land of dreams when you are a child. It can be overwhelming for children to experience all the glitter and glow of the holidays- the Christmas decor, the tree, the lights, the goodies, the movies, trips to concerts and parades. Then there are all the gifts, which are opened with a bang as the room fills with squeals of delight and excitement.

Photo credit: John Morgan on Flickr Creative Commons

The Danger of Giving Your Children Too Much

Instead of worrying if you can get your child enough of the “right toys” for Christmas this year, try a new approach: Give them less. Many parents of very young children shower them with gifts at Christmas time for many years, but the overall effect of this is not good. In my experience, I have seen that children who have too many toys don’t really play with them all, and usually don’t take good care of what they have. Carelessness

Growing Up With Strong Parents Taught Me To Be Strong

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a very large happy family. There were 7 children and two loving parents who were married for many long years. This sounds too good to be true, I know, but now I realize there are many people in this world that are not as fortunate as I was, and I have come to deeply appreciate my upbringing. Because of all they did, my wonderful parents put me at a natural advantage for being a good mother because I had such good parenting examples to follow. I was trained by the best!

The Halloween Trick that Traumatized a 7 Year Old

I have a memory from my childhood that will remain with me always. I was very young (only about 7 years old) when something bad happened to me on Halloween night. The important ritual of trick-or-treating, which was considered relatively safe when I was young, suddenly turned into a scary nightmare for me and my older sister one year.

The Halloween Trick that was Aimed at Kids, but Got the Mom

Halloween is usually a fun time for families, right? It’s a time when you go out of your way to make sure your children have fun and are safe. Here is a story about a practical joke that was intended for kids, but backfired on me, as a young mother, and today my kids still crack up when they talk about it!