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 kind of comics can I share with a four-year-old?

Meredith wants to get her kiddo into comic books, but the trouble is she doesn’t really know a lot about them. Comic book geeks: fill her in on all of the kid-friendly but not cheesy-cartoony comics out there!

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Tips for helping your offbeat student navigate the waters at public school

No one wants their child to miss out on the opportunity to be themselves, and creativity and individuality can seem impossible in a large, standardized school environment. I have seen, though, that it can work.

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Collaborative photography with my autistic five-year-old

Lately, the line in my photography and Remy’s is blurring just a teeny tiny bit. (No, I am still not letting him shoot with my DSLR. It just weighs too much and would be too expensive to replace if he dropped it.) Remy has moved on from the Canon point-and-shoot I was letting him use when there were fresh batteries to be found. He has also discovered a love of the iPod camera, just as I have.

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The joys of gardening with a toddler

Spending a couple of hours out in the garden on a sunny morning or afternoon is a fantastic way to spend some time with your children. They get to learn new things and have fun doing something productive.

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How can I keep cool while baby-wearing in high temperatures?

Temperatures are currently on the rise as some parts of the world move into summer. How can baby-wearing mamas and papas keep themselves and their little ones cool and still wrapped?

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Surrender to what? My three week wait to birth my son

About a week before my due date, I was in the change room at the local pool, and a woman in her sixties told me that each of her three babies were three weeks late. I was mildly appalled and silently certain that she must have had her dates wrong or some deep-seated psychological issues about being a mother. Being the nerd that I am, I had four years of data on my ovulation cycle. I was pretty confident about the dates.

My daughter and I bonded over Harry Potter fanfic

Fanfic exists to fill in those gaps between episodes, to make plots make more sense; to carry on a beloved series of books after the author has abandoned it. And, let’s be honest here, to let the characters do what their creators never would — have sex. Lots and lots of sex.

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My experience applying Zen Buddhism to labor and breastfeeding

When I went into labor with my son at 1:30 on Monday afternoon, I never imagined that he wouldn’t arrive into the world until 12:40 on Wednesday afternoon. Somehow, I survived forty seven hours of labor and lived to tell the tale. Surprisingly, I was even joyful and mentioning things I’d like to do differently “next time” as soon as we were recovering. Other than the epidural, my secret to managing a nearly two full days of labor is Buddhism.