Hi again Michael_A,
Two things I want to touch on: resources and distractions.
Resources
I tell students there are three types of knowledge in aviation: Need to know, nice to know, and nerd level. Most companies I've worked for take this to heart, and understand that you won't be an expert at the end of the initial. After all, the initial is simply a license to learn. There is a fine line between these levels, especially during an initial, but everything you'll ever need to know as a line pilot from a systems standpoint will be contained in the FCOM. I agree with Uplinker in that if you've not yet picked up or only recently began reading the FCOM, that's concerning. The FCOM (and FCTM if Airbus puts one out) should be the go-to resources during an initial. So much so that I tell my students to do this: Read the FCOM section for the system you will be learning about. Don't read it to study or understand, just read it as though you were reading any old book. Then watch the CBT video and take your notes. The hope here is that at most one or two things from your first reading made viewing the CBT easier. Now that you've watched the CBT, re-read the FCOM.Things will make a lot more sense and it'll let you ask questions of your instructors from a higher level of knowledge. Keep going down this road of FCOM-CBT-FCOM and you'll quickly learn the system.
As far as YouTube and Podcasts, I give caution to initial students even though I agree with posters above that they are a great resource. The problem is that you're not always sure of the experience of the presenter and all presenters use an assumed level of knowledge when putting their presentations together, with most not telling their audience what that level is. I've seen some great videos with flashy animations and graphics and presenters that sound more knowledgeable than our company training pilots. But then I look at the date, realize the video is 14 years old and there have been umpteen changes to the system that causes the video to now be incorrect. If you don't take that step to confirm the validity of the video, then you're already behind the 8-ball. I've also listened to some great podcasts that I quickly realize are begun from an assumed level of knowledge that is well above that of an initial student, despite the information being golden for a recurrent student or future instructor. I've also seen videos and podcasts that look and sound great, but are missing some very key points of information that are absolutely required to understand the system, but because the presenter didn't have that level of knowledge, they didn't know they had to pass that information on to you. This most often comes to play with aircraft options. The presenter could present an aircraft option (or lack of one) as applying to the global fleet, without realizing their airline either took (or did not take) an option that changed the system compared to others in the fleet. This can make talking about something simple as data entry into an FMC very distracting for a pilot whose company took option b instead of option a, and yet because you don't know there are different options, you end up confused. I'm not saying don't use these resources, but understand you and they have limitations you have to be aware of. So if it doesn't make sense to you, go back to the FCOM and ignore the video for now.
Distractions
It sounds as though your family has been a huge distraction for you.Try as we might, we cannot simply enter "family mode" and "work mode." We carry both parts of our lives with us into training, and if we're distracted by anything, training suffers. I've had students show up to sim before only to find out a family member just died, or they just broke up with their significant other, or one where the pilot found out that morning they had cancer. However, the single most common distraction is that which you are describing: family who doesn't understand the pressure put on us. I describe a type rating as being somewhat equivalent to a Year 1 University semester boiled down to less than two months. The workload is intense, and if you don't adequately prepare your family for it, then you end up holding the bag. I often tell people that my wife also has six type ratings because she's been by my side for all of them. But it wasn't until the third or fourth that she began to understand the level of study required. Indeed, they see us sitting at an iPad or computer watching videos, and we go in to work for 6 hours, only 4 of which are in the simulator, so it's easy for them to think it's easy for us. Especially if we're sitting somewhere warm in a company provided, all-inclusive hotel.
You have two jobs. The first is to prepare your family. Show your spouse and kids what you have to learn. A cockpit poster is good for this. You have to learn what every switch does, how it presents on the screens, and how to fix issues when they happen. Not only that, but that every sub-panel has its own computer which you have to learn how it is programmed to operate. You don't have to show system diagrams, but once you boil everything down to this, most family members begin to appreciate the commitment you have to put it. Someone said above it requires 12 hours a day, and I would tend to agree with that. So no, you don't have time to help with the dishes, or putting out the trash, or looking after the kids while you're studying. Laundry gets done once a week, and the time you take for yourself away from study is to relax your brain and consolidate the information, not to take on family duties. It sucks. It sucks big time. But that's what it takes. That's the commitment required to be a professional pilot completing an initial type rating.
Your second job is to tell your instructors if you're distracted. Too many times I asked students or flight test candidates if they were prepared for the session. My exact speech was: "Are there any professional or personal reasons we should delay or cancel today's session? I ask because talking about it now is a reason. Talking about it after is an excuse." I did this to give the student or candidate a chance to have a different conversation with me before the session. What I didn't say, but implied in tone is that reasons are good, excuses are childish and unprofessional. Training can always be moved. Yes it's a pain in the butt for someone, yes it "wastes" resources, and yes it may mean they can't get you back in for a week or so. But that is better than getting into a session that you are simply not prepared for. Being unprepared is unprofessional and shows poor risk management and decision making abilities. Especially during a flight test. Too many pilots told me after they failed a ride that they were distracted and should have taken me up on my offer. But at that point it's too late, the ride is failed. But cancelling before the session has no negative implications as long as it doesn't become a trend over multiple sessions. So be honest with yourself and your instructor if you are distracted and put a plan in place to remove where possible or otherwise minimize the distraction. Otherwise, you'll keep walking the same path getting the same result.