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.

Kids in cans 1

Kids in cans

For those of you considering bringing your kidlets to concerts or festivals, here’s living proof that not only will children tolerate wearing headphones, he/she will look way too cute doing it! For more pics of kids in cans, read on! Baby’s first encounter with Britney Spears, perhaps? Ah, much better! Is there anything better than […]

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Have screaming kid, will travel

It all started when the pills ran out. You see, when a 4’11”, petite-in-every-place girl delivers a 10 pound baby, there is a lot of, ahem, stitching and fixing up to be done.

Normally I decline medication, but after Jonah tore into the world my doctor didn’t have to push it. In the hospital, floating on pain medicine, I was still struck by how completely unprepared I was for taking care of a baby, but I was handling it okay.

Then I went home.

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Who says you need a yard to raise kids?!

We recently moved to downtown Seattle, and were shocked that the first question family asked is “What do the kids do without a yard?” Um, EVERYTHING.

Ick

Mondays

Seriously dude, Mondays make me feel like that too. If you have a serious case of the Mondays, I highly recommend you check out the rest of this photo shoot over at BlondeShot Creative’s blog. This kid’s facial expressions are a national treasure.

Terrible yellow eyes

Terrible yellow eyes, ala Where The Wild Things Are

Spotted this simple, relatively mess and pain-free craft idea over on Se7en. It looks like two yellow circles on some ribbon until you know the context. Then it becomes something else entirely. It’s inspired by the following passage from the book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak: “…And when he came to the […]

Therese Charvet

Introducing Therese, our resident midwifery advisor (and Ariel’s mom)

Yes, nepotism is alive and well here on Offbeat Mama! I’m not sure how many of you know this, but my mom Therese is a retired midwife, midwifery advocate, and educator.

Offbeat Mama supports each family choosing a birth plan that’s right for them, but it seems like we would be remiss if we didn’t take advantage of the fact that my mom’s got a massive wealth of knowledge about midwifery … and so I’ve asked her to write a column for us called Ask the Midwife.

Yes, it IS possible to not know you were pregnant

The woman started the ultrasound and said, “Yeah, there is a heart beat.” My doctor in the ER asked how far along I was, and that’s when it all started to sink in. The ultrasound tech said 38 to 39 weeks. I kind of understood what they were saying, and I soon realized I was going to need to tell my parents they were going to be grandparents that very day.

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Neo-Victorian beauty for the whole family

Could this picture be more perfect?! The antique pram, dress with bustle, windswept prairie, beautiful mama and baby…Style to spare! Check out the full series and more information below….