Parenting is the most profound expression of hope.

The hope that you’ll be able to raise kids that will become good humans.

The hope that everything will turn well even when there is no hope left.

The hope that when they leave home your kids will have everything needed so that they live a good life.

But on this journey, there are many moments of despair.

Moments when you don’t know what to do and when you feel that you lost them.

Moments when it seems that nothing you do touches them, when they seem to trust and listen to anyone else but you.

Moments when you think you give them everything and they seem to give you nothing in return.

Handle parents block before it handles you

For those moments I’ve put together 15 resources that helped me a lot (on my way to 18 and 12 with my kids) and that I hope will help you also to understand how to deal with your kids and with yourself so that your child can have a childhood and adolescence emotionally balanced and that you are both well equipped for all the challenges you must face.

After almost 2 decades of reading, listening and researching, I thought I would share 15 of my favourite parenting resources. They include sites, blogs, books, podcasts and more.

Here’s my collection of Sites and Blogs:

1. Parenting from A to Z. With Dr Shefali (probably the best advisor that you can find today for parenting) you have a gentle hand that will hold you on your parenting journey. You can taste a  juicy sample.
2. New parents. With Get Boober you can cover all you need as an expectant or new parent (high quality classes and on demand expert care providers).
3. Parents of teens blog. The Moat Blog was started years ago by Kay, a mother of five. She needed to build a community for those also raising teens in order to connect, share, learn and find support. Now it also has a podcast and books.
4. Complete parent tool kit. Today.com is the winner of Webby Awards 2016 (where the votes come both from the members of the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and from the public). And it’s maybe the best well structured and exhaustive toolkit to help you navigate your children’s journey from pre-kindergarten to highschool.
5. Raising great kids. Parent.com is fabulous for parents who love digesting digital news articles which link parenting and children to the world around us.
6. You could really use some fun. You do need Shit my kids ruined for those times when you look around at your messy house and think “this can’t get any worse. Well, it seems it can!

Want to dive into some great Books? Here they are:

1. Brainstorm by Danniel Siegel. I see this book as a bible for parents who raise teens. In this New York Times–bestselling book, Dr. Daniel Siegel shows parents how to turn one of the most challenging developmental periods in their children’s lives into one of the most rewarding. It can be read and it helps both parents and teens.
2. Stop the cap, You don’t care! It offers support, insights and 7 strategies on how to talk with kids about tough topics
3. Black Milk by Elif Shafak. If you are, like me and other millions of mothers, plagued by guilt, anxiety, and bewilderment about your new maternal role, the book will gently hold your hand through this incredible experience and will help you to harmonise all the antagonist voices in your head.
4. Positive Discipline. It is a great book which teaches you how to create learning opportunities (for the future) instead of punishing the mistakes (of the past). It is full of clear answers for new parents from potty training to dealing with power struggles.

You can find Brainstorm and Positive Discipline on Audible, if you want an audio format.

There are a lot of Podcasts out there, but 3 of my favourites are:

1.  The funny thing about parenting Podcast. This show is self described as “a podcast for parents who need a quick breather in their week because raising kids is bananas.” It’s a remarkable balance of humour, anecdotes, encouragement, and support.
2. Raising good humans Podcast. Dr Aliza Pressman’s biggest goal is to “make your parenting journey less overwhelming and a lot more joyful”
3. The unfiltered motherhood Podcast. The show is self-described as a “personal development podcast for moms where we push aside the polite conversations and dig deep into the real topics, struggles and problems that moms encounter regularly

And finally two other great resources that I highly recommend:

1.  Resilience Booster – Parent Tip Tool an article that gives you simple and effective steps to help you build resilience of your kids
2. Everyday Parenting: The ABCs of child rearing; a free course offered by Yale on Coursera.org. The lessons provide step-by-step instructions and demonstrations to improve your course of action with both children and adolescents.  Among many techniques, you will learn how even simple modifications to tone of voice and phrasing can lead to more compliance.  The course will also shed light on many parenting misconceptions and ineffective strategies that are routinely used.

There you have it as a guide to tackle almost all the problems you may face as a parent.

Keep it always one click away and sneak peek into it whenever you feel you need to.

But most importantly put it to work right now.

Begin with what is most painful to you today. And be sure that there is no problem you face that was not faced by somebody else before.

I hope that from now on parenting will be a little easier for you.

So brace up, pour yourself a glass of wine or a latte and bring some clarity in your life.