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.

I feel neutral about gender-neutral parenting

In three years of parenthood, I have collected plenty of anecdotes to promote the philosophies of gender-neutral parenting, of raising a child devoid of gender-stereotypes. Yet I found myself questioning the very possibility of raising a child who would not form his identity, at least in part, around typical lines of pink and blue, dolls and footballs.

He-nesting while I wait for my son’s birth

The past 9 months have already been an ebb and flow of anticipation. Waiting to see my son on the ultrasound, hearing his heartbeat once a month, tracking the growth of the baby bump, finding out we were having a boy and waiting to finally be able to feel him move. Now we wait for the main event.

I saw my birthdaughter, she loves me

I recently saw my daughter for the first time in about a year. She turned 6 this past fall, is going to school, and looks just like me. She calls me by my name. I think if she ever called me her mother, I’d cry as I corrected her. She may be my daughter, but I am not her active parent, her active mother. I am her birthmom — not as a derogatory term, but simply as a clarification. A different type of mother.

The Bot’s Room

The illustrious blogger, soon-to-be mama and previously Offbeat Bride-featured Steampunk Bride,  The Pregonaut, did an AMAZING job with her little Bot’s room and was stoked to share it with us. Bask in the pop art glory awesomeness of these new digs! – Offbeat Shrie We’re at 38 weeks and the room is finally complete! Now […]

Calculated risk, or why I let my kid sleep on his stomach

I’m not stupid: I know that it’s recommended that infants sleep on their backs, and I understand why it’s recommended. SIDS is scary, terrifying stuff — and the fact it’s still mired in mystery means that there’s extra fear around it.

Yeah, so my son was born in the backseat of a taxi.

Summer wanted a natural childbirth free from medical interventions. Well, she got what she wanted, right there in the back of a taxi cab on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway.

Childproof your home — not your life

We baby proof our lives so much we get scared. We as parents want to protect our children, but I think we’re over protecting them 90% of the time.