While the internet is mostly peppered with an awful amount of rubbish, there are occasional flashes of wondrous brilliance, especially for those people navigating the choppy waters of modern parenting.

Here are the five things that have made me smile, laugh, weep or nod sagely this week.

Wise words on Motherhood: ” In time, you realise that the motherhood journey is much tougher when you pull the baby onto your speeding highway, rather than step off and enjoy a stroll along her meandering little path.” I remember someone saying exactly this to me when Munchkin was about three weeks old, it’s about slowing down, not getting you baby to speed up. Wise and heartfelt words from Beverley Turner at Smallish Magazine….

Essential Reading for Any Parent: “You shouldn’t teach your kids that love equals abuse. Love equals kindness and respect, and it never, ever means touching someone in a way that will hurt them.” This wonderful article, by Joanna Schroeder a feminist writer and mother, on the equally wonderful Good Men Project, raises the big issue that, for years now, girls have been fed the plainly idiotic concept that ‘he’s mean to you because he likes you’. It is ludicrous how long we have all been perpetuating the myth that being nasty to someone is ok. It’s bullying. It’s not ok. Really thought-provoking stuff.

 How to be a Noughties Mum: “You own the Annabel Karmel baby and toddler recipe book. It’s still there on your shelf… Scowling at you and your chicken dippers… Full of good intentions and broken dreams…” Genius. So many ‘me too’ moments here, thanks to the wonderful Helen Wallen at justanormalmummy.com.

Stage by Stage Reassurance: “Understanding what our kids are wrestling with and the developmental goals they are working towards will make their more ‘frustrating’ behaviours easier to deal with. Things will run smoother if we can give them the space and support they need to do whatever it is they need to.” This is one of the first things I’ve read that speaks in a warm, empathetic but practical way about how to deal with each new stage of your child’s development. Rather than providing tough solutions and or ineffectual commiserations, this is simply about understanding what’s going on on the inside, and how that manifests on the outside. From the really brilliant website Hey Sigmund.

The ‘Good’ Baby:  “‘Is your baby good?” asks every curious bus passenger and supermarket shopper. “Well, he didn’t do nine months inside me as punishment for criminal behaviour.” I love journalist Lucy Tobin’s blog, runoutofwomb.com, and this is one of her classic pieces that deals with one of those idiotic questions all parents get asked that makes no sense and is just so infuriating. Very bloody funny stuff.

And, if you have time, and haven’t yet seen this, then just watch it. And feel his pain….