I keep saying, "I should start a blog. No, really, I should." So I did.

I'm the mother of an absolutely wonderful, adorable little boy. He was born via c-section on Sept. 11, and we named him John Adams Tiberius. We wanted him to have a good, strong name. Which is why we also promptly gave him such nicknames as Buppy. Or Captain Honeysnuggles.

I'm also--and this is where it gets funny--a doctoral candidate. Luckily, I'm all but finished my coursework (one more for an extra certificate), and I got through comprehensive exams and all they entailed, so I'm onto the dissertaion, but...toddler and all. I am, however, still a Teaching Fellow.

Anyway, why a blog? I keep thinking about how things have changed since the little man was born, and all of the stuff people tell expectant moms to...well, expect. And then I start to feel lied to, quite honestly. Oh, sure, some information is valuable, and there are lots of excellent suggestions out there. But if you hang on to them too tightly, you start to feel inadequate. And I think enough of us are struggling with post-partum mood swings that the last thing we need is feelings of inadequacy.

Put simply: this is a damn hard job. The hardest I've ever done. I know, people say that all the time, but it's true. And you don't realize what you're in for until it happens, no matter how much you think you know beforehand.

I was talking to my cousin, who also had her first baby exactly two weeks before I did. At one point in the conversation, she just shrugged and said, "Whatever works, right?" Hence the title of the blog. It's really the way it is. If it works, you go with it. And that goes for babies and, possibly, anything else in life.

So, I don't know. Maybe this is just me being self-indulgent. Maybe it's just my version of therapy, and the blog will keep the edge off the moodiness because it's a place to get stuff out. Or maybe, just maybe, it'll turn out to be a slightly amusing ramble though motherhood, and whatever else may come up. Hopefully, if you're reading, you can enjoy it, maybe sympathize a little, maybe even learn something. Or share something with me in return, even. Because, hey, whatever works.

Right?