Who are we and why are we here?

So, here we are.  Another blog that I'll probably start and forget about in a few weeks.  I'm running out of email addresses to set up new Blogger accounts, as I don't want to link all of my "failed" blogs - out of sight, out of mind and all that.  If I have to look at them every time I log in, it'll expedite the giving up process and I'll just never log in again.

Anyway, why am I here?  Well, I recently became a mother for the first time, and am finding the process fascinating - I think most women do, judging by the sheer wealth of information online, in books, provided (often unsolicited) by friends and family...  Not only is getting to know my beautiful baby boy (born July 2012) absolutely amazing, but I'm getting to know a whole new me and undergoing some of the most rigorous changes I think I've been through since I was a baby myself.  This time, I want to at least try to document them.  Barefoot Mother has a lovely post on The Birth of a Mother, which I found enjoyable and beautifully thought-provoking.  I'm not sure about blogging etiquette, so I won't link to it unless I can get her permission in case that's Just Not Done, but Google can help you there, if required.

I read a lot about parenting styles, "attachment parenting," and what I think of as "the strict one," (the one that's not attachment parenting, basically - you know, advocates Cry It Out, parent-led routines, Gina Ford et al, all that jazz).  The name of the blog comes from what I've realised is my own style of parenting, and, if they're honest, possibly that of  thousands of other mothers and fathers out there.  Basically, it's a mix and match, learn-on-the-job, asking for and acting on and ignoring advice, following books and my head and my heart, crying more than the baby sometimes and occasionally feeling like I know it all and am perfectly qualified to comment on everyone else's choices, more often cursing people who feel like they know it all and are perfectly qualified to comment on everyone else's choices, muddling through, trial and error, forgetting my ideals and working with reality style of parenting.  I thought that might be a bit long-winded if I ever reach the giddy heights of someone actually typing my blog into a search engine, so I figured "inadvertent" would work.  Plus, my boy was a bit of a surprise, so there's that, too.  And there are no political implications to using the word "parent" rather than specifying my gender or role - it just sounded better than "mother" when used with "inadvertent."

This was our first family photo.  It still makes me cry.

So like I said, here we are.  Myself, the Littlest Cat (my boy Dom's first nickname - cute story or one that makes me look a bit daft - one day, I'll stick it here and see what the general consensus is), Daddy Cool (AKA Mat) and the Scaredy-Cat (an actual cat and not his real name, but his terror of people who aren't family prohibits me from giving his real details in case it somehow means he ever has to interact).  Our Rach lives with us for now, as well - my cousin and the sister of my heart.  Hi.  It's nice to meet you.  I have to go now, the baby just woke up.

Knackered and proud.

Not impressed at no longer being the baby.