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.

How I want to avoid mommy martyrdom

Last week, I asked offbeat mamas via Facebook & Twitter: “What steps do YOU take to help you avoid mama martyrdom?” I got some great responses, which helped me clarify the issue for myself. It basically boils down to this: I do not want to have a monogamous relationship with my son. I’ve read a […]

Facing your birth fears

Q. We are planning our first homebirth with our 2nd child due in February in a state that has laws preventing homebirth. I am so excited to not be in a hospital setting….but I am becoming consumed with fear. Fear that something is going to go wrong, that we’ll have to transport to the hospital […]

A Harry Potter-inspired maternity session

Gwyneth Colleen sent this shoot over and it’s packed with lovely shots of this family. What struck me about the shoot was the poses they came up with.

Even though the family is dressed low-key, these poses they came up with and shot with Gwyneth make the shots unique and fun to look at.

Gorgeous goth family portraits

Feast your eyes on this gorgeous, darkly gothic family portrait series that revolves around a lovely little girl named Thekla.

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 […]

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.

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.

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.