Parenting resources

Becoming a mother has been such a wild ride. It is the most challenging and most important job we will ever do, yet there is no detailed informative manual for it. We are thrown right into the beautiful chaos without any training at all and are expected to find our way. An added challenge these days is that often new families live away from the grandparents and often both parents are obliged to work due to the rise of housing and living costs. Which in turn leads to burn out, stress, chronic fatigue and sometimes even separation. And the worst part of all is we are not able to parent the way we would really love due to lack of support and time for much needed self-care time. My number one advice is to seek community. Find other mamas who can relate. Create a network of support for both parents. Parenting is so rewarding and truly the absolute most amazing gift of an experience but it is insane to think one can do it alone and still have a healthy mind and body. It is simply something that requires an entire village.  I myself learned this the hard way. And am still learning. Here are some resources that can serve as a gentle guide throughout your parenting journey. Each of these books carry a common thread as a focus; which is to strengthen the parent-child connection. Parenting isn't a straightforward road at all. And there will be many bumps along the way. So go easy on yourself. You'll make mistakes and that's ok. Your child isn't expecting you to be a perfect parent. Just a loving one. (I personally preferred the audio book versions of these books!) These are just some that spoke to me personally.