Category Archive

Families

Our sister site Offbeat Mama launched in 2009, became Offbeat Families in 2012, and was merged into Offbeat Home & Life in 2015. This archive contains all the posts ever published on those sites! We believe that while children change your life forever, being around kids doesn’t necessitate abandoning your identity. We believe in supporting and inspiring parents and caregivers who are moving beyond mainstream visions of parenting. We welcome anyone who’s interested in families, whether you’re pre-parental, in the process of becoming a parent, or choosing to live childfree.

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What maternity pillow works best for a small bed?

I’m currently 16 weeks pregnant with my first child. I keep seeing ads and suggestions that I should get a maternity pillow — and I totally get why! Increasing heartburn, belly size, and desire to sleep with my thighs a little farther apart than gravity would want them to, mostly.

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Whether your kid has lazy eye or wants to be a pirate, this DIY eye patch is rad

My son has inherited lazy eye from his dad and I. I created this snazzy eye patch for him so he can rock it instead of feeling self-conscious, and it’s totally doing the trick.

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Living with a pregnant teen changes everything

We recently found out my 16-year-old sister is pregnant — and everyone’s world has been turned upside down. I’m only 22, and not sure if I’m ready to rock aunthood or would rather do my own thing.

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We have to put our kid in childcare to run our farm — how do I cope?

My husband and I run our family farm full-time… and also parent our fourteen-month-old. It’s no longer feasible for her to be at home with us if we’re to get any work done, but I’m totally bummed. How can I deal with having to put her in childcare?

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Some people think putting your kid on Facebook might be bad for your job prospects

When I started reading this piece about why you shouldn’t put photos of yourself with your kid all over your Facebook profile I was all “Yeah yeah yeahhhh, another post about why this is bad for kids.” BUT THEN I actually paid attention to what I was reading and realized that the case being made is that splashing personal details of your life with your child(ren) online can impact YOU negatively in the career field.

The topic of this article is totally NOT one that I support, but I do feel like the possibility of being discriminated against for sharing your kid’s lives on social networking websites is worth discussing. You can’t change a practice like this if you don’t know about it!

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Watch your language: how we emphasize family diversity when talking to our kids

We want to teach our kids that diversity comes in many shades — and telling them that sex is something only moms and dads do is the first thing to go.

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Luckiest kid in the world has a bedroom built of LEGO

When you need to add a space for your kid in your one-bedroom condo, what do you do? How about adding a loft made of LEGO blocks? It’s a very tiny building material, and it makes for a super cool custom bedroom you’ve got to see to believe.

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I want to take my two-month-old overseas: what should I keep in mind?

I’m due to give birth during the grey, bleak winter and have the chance to escape to a sunnier place for a month: should I take my infant and do it?