How can we transition step-children and half-siblings into a unified family?
I married a wonderful fella and his two daughters last June. We both feel like the four of us are doing fairly well with the transitions, and now it looks like we’re adding to our family in October. The girls knew we hoped to, which meant that they were not surprised when we told them. They weren’t enthusiastic, either. I’m not expecting them to be, at least not yet, but I am curious about how best to proceed.
What yoga is teaching me about raising spiritual kids
My husband Ivan and I do not happen to follow the practices of any organized religion, and before we had kids that seemed to be working just fine. We come from different backgrounds (mine agnostic with varying degrees of Christianity in my heritage, his a mix between Jewish and agnostic), but had generally landed in the same spot in adulthood: we believe in a Higher Power, and He or She may or may not be bearded (which does not necessarily designate gender; perhaps just a divine aversion to wax).
They really say just about anything: readers share their favorite kid quotes
Kids are notorious for saying all kinds of random shit — the phrase “kids say the darndest things” doesn’t exist for no reason. My own son had us literally LOLing recently, so I shared what he said on the Offbeat Mama Facebook page.
7 tips for helping your child focus on their health — not the number on the scale
Throughout my elementary years I was a pudgy kid. By the time my lingering baby fat had fallen off I had learned to think of myself as overweight, unattractive, and lazy. I wore layers to hide my body, never went swimming in a group, and was a chronic dieter until my early twenties when I essentially stopped eating altogether. I eventually climbed out of that hole but here I am at twenty-six and I find myself feeling like that fat kid all too easily.
What geeky books do you plan to share with your kids?
I maybe did a happy dance in my chair when I found a link to Wired’s 67 Books Every Geek Should Read to Their Kids Before Age 10… hello, BOOK NERD DREAM! I thought it’d be fun to talk about a few books that made their list (talking about all 67 would be a little lengthy, y’all) and dish about which books we each plan to share with our kids before the ‘tween years kick in.
The magic of childhood is kind of totally freaky
Why do we insist on scaring the living daylights out of our children with the Magic of Childhood? It’s no wonder they’re all in a hurry to grow up. You would be too, if every time a milestone or major holiday came around it was marked by somebody sneaking into your home or bedroom at night, and either leaving something behind or taking a body part of yours.
My 5-year-old cut off my hair and learned about what beauty really is
My daughter, Olivia, came home from her preschool and announced she needed to have long hair to be “pretty” and it wouldn’t hurt if I could put her in a dress for school. Initially I didn’t think much of that comment, but it bothered me. So I shaved my head to show her that prettiness wasn’t about long hair.
Offbeat Mama Kid’s Mix Vol 1: songs for and about the road
Since pregnancy, and possibly even before, I’ve been determined that my child wouldn’t listen to those CDs of kids singing covers of pop songs in kid voices. There’s nothing inherently WRONG with those CDs, but I have zero interest, possibly even less than zero interest, in ever playing one in my home or my car. While I was pregnant and putting together for my never-used labor and birth playlist, I wondered if it’d be easy to get my son to like whatever we like — and now that I have a three-year-old, I have learned that it is. I know this won’t last forever (and god only knows what the 2020s hold for his teenage-hood), but for now? TOTALLY WORKS.