photo credit: The Jamoker

When you decided to become a parent, you most probably tried to prepare yourself by reading and learning as much as possible about this parenting role. For every parent, it is the start of a life-long journey that gets more and more interesting, not to mention complicated.

When you become a parent, you strive to be a wise, good and successful one. Who wants to be a bad parent anyway? In order to help you get started, below is a compilation of some of the best parenting websites and resources.

These websites are chosen based on the criteria below:

• It provides beneficial and useful information.
• It features a lot of diverse topics essential to parenting.
• It has been around for at least three years and has amassed lots of useful contents.

Below are the recommended sites in no particular order:

1. http://www.babiesonline.com/
Here, you will find quite a comprehensive site having been established since 1997 covering everything about baby, pregnancy, parenting and even offers free baby stuffs.

2. http://www.parents.com/
This is a one-stop website which is also the home of two other sites, namely http://americanbaby.com/ (an American Baby Magazine) and http://www.familycircle.com/. There are categories on family life, getting pregnant, babies, etc.

3. http://www.parenting.com/
This site covers subjects on fertility, pregnancy, being a mom, recipes, activities, etc. There are especially a lot of inputs on parenting and child. Don’t forget to check some of the provided tools like the ‘Child Symptom Checker’ and the ‘Guide: Ages & Stages’.

4. http://www.kinderstart.com/
This is an index directory and search engine specifically targeting on resources relating to young children. There are various categories available such as child development, pregnancy & birth, food & nutrition, adoption and so on. There are also resources useful for teachers. Therefore, if you are stumped looking for answers, you may want to check out this directory.

5. http://www.surfnetkids.com/
I like this site especially because I can access to educational games for my kids instead of leaving them to play on other ‘brain-wasting’ games on the computer. There are math games, picture games, word games, science games, simulation games, etc. If you are a teacher, there are a variety of educational activities available for your students or pupils.

6. http://babyzone.com/
This is an ‘all-in-one’ site on babies starting from preconception. Everything you want to know about pregnancy can be found here and there is a category for adoption as well. Take your time to browse this site especially if you are planning to start a family soon.

7. http://www.familyeducation.com/
There are separate categories for moms, kids 0 – 6, kids 7 – 11 and kids 12 – 18. Hence, if you have questions that are specific to a certain age, this site is easy to navigate and search for the answers.

8. http://parenting.ivillage.com/
I would describe this site as very useful for all moms. There are categories for health, home & garden, beauty & style, pregnancy & parenting, etc. There is a section on “Ask the Experts” where you get your questions answered by real experts. For example, questions relating to pediatric health, child care, child psychology, fitness and even stepparenting. I believe you will find this section useful.

9. http://positiveparenting.com/
This website is easy to navigate and very straightforward. It has been around since 1995 and has accumulated a great deal of information as well as useful resources for parents. To keep updated on parenting issues, subscribe to their informative newsletter. If you wish to enhance your parenting knowledge on a specific area, check out their online bookstore for the great choices provided.

10. http://www.parentstalk.com/
This site offers you parenting tips, advice from parenting experts, ideas on family activities and also craft ideas. There are also two other related sites, i.e. http://kidscomjr.com/ (for kids ages 3 to 7) and http://kidscom.com/ (for kids ages 8 to 15).

There are really a lot of other good parenting websites and below is a list of other notable sites to visit if you crave for more information.

• http://www.babycenter.com/
• http://www.kidshealth.org/
• http://family.go.com/
• http://www.theideabox.com/
• http://www.parentingteens.com/
• http://www.iparenting.com/
• http://www.familycorner.com/
• http://www.todaysparents.com/
• http://www.thelaboroflove.com/
• http://www.parenthood.com/
• http://www.familydoctor.org/
• http://www.parent.net/

photo credit: jessicafm

There are things to like and dislike being a mother. What I like or love about the role is:

• Having a child to cuddle and look after
• Having a companion who trust and depends on you
• Having someone to talk to and who listens patiently
• I enjoy the proud feeling of being a mom (To me, it is one of life’s accomplishment)
• I feel happy knowing that there are loved ones to look after me in my old age (I hope)
• I enjoy the feeling of family togetherness and doing lots of things together as a family (e.g. outings, picnics, shopping, etc.)
• I appreciate life more with my kids around. They know all the fun things to do with no care in the world. It is good to follow their example sometimes.

What I dislike about it are:

• Having no time or limited time for myself
• Feeling overwhelm with the responsibility of raising and caring for the children
• Not getting enough sleep and always feeling tired
• Worrying a lot about the children’s wellbeing
• Having less freedom to go out
• Worrying that I am not doing enough for my kids
• Having to face with situations where I think my kids are being very difficult (e.g. tantrums, rebelliousness, etc.)
• Face it, obviously there is less privacy in the house with the kids around

Those are my thoughts and feelings that I found myself experiencing after becoming a mom. Do you have similar emotions and face similar problems or worries?

Before you make any plans to have a child or to have more children, there are a lot of factors to take into consideration. Get yourself and your partner thinking on the following questions and discuss them openly. These questions are examples only and you should further discuss issues that you think may be important. If everything is agreeable and there are no obstacles, having the child will be a happy and momentous occasion.

Sample questions to discuss together:

• Why do we want a baby/ more children?
• Are we ready financially
• Are we able to provide a comfortable home for the child?
• Who will look after the baby after it is born?
• Will one partner quit his/her job to stay home to look after the new baby?
• Are you willing to sacrifice your time (less time for yourself) to bring up the child?
• Are you ready for the extra burden (more responsibilities) of taking care of another person?

Well, the truth is becoming a parent can seem the job from hell for some people. It is therefore important to share the responsibilities with your spouse or partner. Once you have cleared away all the doubts and crossed all the hurdles, your reward will be a beautiful new baby. It is a goal both you and your partner work hard on to make a reality.

The mother has nurtured the baby for nine months inside her womb and has gone through an unimaginable labor. The baby has to be worth all the hard work, preparations and worries and therefore deserves loving parents. The last thing you would want is to have a baby without any forethoughts or preparations. With the proper planning, the end results are happy parents and family and that happiness should stay forever as you raise your children.