Being a parent is a role and a privilege rather than a birthright.  It makes many people and breaks some. And having coached all sorts of people of all backgrounds of different experiences of being raised by their parents or guardians – it’s clear that parenting has a lifelong impact. There are all sorts of pressures and challenges for parents (and guardians) and children.   Whilst there is a huge amount of information out there it still can be very tough and there is no definitive ‘how to guide’. There are also all sorts of schools of thought about how to parent – and all this becomes even more pronounced with social, economic, cultural and political views on parenting.

Yesterday I caught up with Anne Coates of ParentingWithoutTears who has been a parenting journalist for many years and who set up the website as an online resource for parents on families. I asked her a little bit about the website and the information it provides – I also picked up on some of the common issues that new and established parents face.