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.

One hot, tattooed, restaurant-owning dad coming up!

There is no way to accurately describe just how awesome my husband is. Is he perfect? Hell no. Does he still leaves dirty towels on the floor in the bathroom and rarely manage to put his dirty dishes in the sink? Hell yes. But that’s ok, because he’s the most dedicated and loving father to […]

The challenges of picking out a bike seat or carrier for your toddler

When it came time to find a bike seat or carrier for Jasper, I was all kinds of crazy — too worried to have him in a cart behind me, not sure about having a seat placed where I couldn’t see him, etc. THEN, I discovered the Bobike Mini – a bike seat that goes on the FRONT of the bike!

Interview with Eden & Alice of Let’s Panic About Babies

Eden Kennedy and Alice Bradley have both been mommybloggers since before the term existed. The two co-founded the hilarious Let’s Panic About Babies! in 2008, and have been mocking fear-based baby culture ever since.

First-time mom abandons fear in favor of stubbornness

When a contraction woke me up at 3:35 AM on my due date, I ignored it. When another contraction popped up ten minutes later, I ignored that one too. At 4:45 AM a contraction popped me right in the nose. It was intense, painful, and it wasn’t messing around.

The b(r)east of both worlds — using formula AND breastfeeding

Overnight, I became a working mother (Really! Interviewed on Tuesday morning, offered the job that afternoon and began work the next day). I dutifully hauled my breastpump to work everyday. I felt guilty for leaving Stella so soon, and the prospect of weaning her to formula made me feel even worse!

After two weeks of pumping, I was done…

Awesome parental tattoos

When it comes to parental tattoos, (or really, tattoos in general), there’s a whole spectrum of what people do, and do not, get on their bodies. This is a post filled with photos of tattoos that kick ass.

A photo essay about a girl and her chair

Michelle’s step-daughter has a disability and spends most of her time in a wheelchair. This is a photo essay about Snail’s chair.