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.

Having THE TALK: When will you introduce your kids to Star Wars?

You know THE TALK is coming someday, and here’s a handy-dandy “Talking to your kids about Star Wars” video to help you out.

My thanksgiving birth story

Somewhere around my 26th week of pregnancy, our midwife Heike taught us how to find the baby’s head in my belly. “It’s called ballottement,” she explained. His head was just under the right side of my ribcage, meaning he was breech. “Don’t worry about it,” my midwife said. “Most babies are breech in the second trimester. He’ll flip.”

Raising an infant in a multi-person household

Mamacita and her husband share a house with their baby, three other adults, and a variety of animals, and this kind of village works for them!

Talking to your kids about dad’s vasectomy

Christine is the thirty-something mama of five kids (ages range from six to sixteen) and author of The Bean Blog. She wrote a post about telling her kids about her husband’s vasectomy.

Proving you can do it: a successful vaginal birth after c-section

Elizabeth and her son pulled off a successful VBAC and experienced birth the way she always wanted to.

Thoughts on the 0% abuse rate in American lesbian families

Huffington Post recently released an article entitled Child Abuse Rate at Zero Percent in Lesbian Households. Lynzie asks: “Why is this not surprising?”

How my family says grace without bringing capital R Religion into it

I’ve always struggled with whether to pray before dinner. I wanted a way to say thanks for the food and acknowledge Ms. Earth’s contribution to our meal without bringing capital R Religion into it.

Something a little more than,
“Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub.”

And something a little less than,
“And these thy gifts from thy bounty…”

Who needs Baby Mozart when there’s Pandora?

Baby Mozart be damned! Jamie and her husband play their growing baby a selection of tunes from Pandora every night!