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.

Are parents happy?

In what seems like a surprising or at least dishonest turn, parents self-report seems to be that they are happy … these studies measured happiness moment-to-moment, a definition that makes sense in a culture that tends to be about the moment-to-moment with focus on products that provide quick fixes and instant pleasures.

What kind of hiking carrier should we use for our infant?

Rachael and her partner love hiking but have NO CLUE what to pack their baby in while they’re doing so. What do you use?

Why doesn’t anyone ever talk about Child-Free men?

“For all the stories written by and for women on this issue — and there are markedly few — men are more likely to be absent from the public dialogue about intentional childlessness. It isn’t as if they don’t exist, so why aren’t men’s stories also being heard?”

The day my partner adopted our daughter

My partner recently adopted our daughter — the one she has parented since birth — and simultaneously everything and nothing about our family changed .

Should we wait to travel until our kid is old enough to remember it?

Remember that time your parents took you to Mexico? What about the trip to Spain? Oh, no? That’s probably because you were too young.

The hazy magic of night nursing

“…Now pull baby close. Her eyes are still closed. My eyes are starting to strain because I’ve only allowed one to open this whole time. Mustn’t cross over to the waking world. Must return to slumber.”

This family could be models, but they’re just keeping it real

The family featured in this session from Ana Paul Photographers are the most non-supermodels-but-totally-supermodel-esque people ever. Ever.

If the baby co-sleeps in bed with you, where do you have sex?

Ok, co-sleepers: riddle us this! How do you co-sleep and keep your sex lives active in your bed?