Big thanks to my beloved Ellen Forney for rocking the illustrations for Offbeat Mama! PS: Have I mentioned she does wedding invites, too?
Well, it's official: Offbeat Mama is fresh out the womb! Just like Offbeat Bride, Offbeat Mama will be packed five days a week with features, photos, and shopping for women who are doing things their own way ... only this time it's families instead of weddings.
I realize that many of y'all aren't into the family planning phase — but if you have ladyfriends or family who are, won't you share Offbeat Mama with them?
Photo by Pixie Vision Productions
- Did you know that goth russian couple I featured a while back had a baby, and she's about the cutest thing EVAR?
- Ever wondered what's it like to birth a baby you're giving up for open adoption?
- Who knew there was such a thing as steampunk baby booties?
- Are you a second generation weirdo? Read one woman's ode to her offbeat mama.
Oh, and that's just the beginning. Go check out Offbeat Mama, and please oh please let me know what you think!
About Ariel Meadow Stallings
Author of Offbeat Bride: Creative Alternatives for Independent Brides, Ariel acts as the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire websites. She lives, loves, and dorks out hard in Seattle, WA.
shrielenee said
RAD!
Marina Miller said
steam punk baby booties! sign me up! expecting #4 in December. I am so your demographic. xoxo
Laura said
yay! I am actually excited because I read all of the wedding stuff, but part of what makes me an OBB is the fact that my family planning has turned out to be rather offbeat. For me, everything is intertwined.
Hibryd said
The new site will probably be a more contentious than this one. I mean, there's no wrong way to get married, but there are *plenty* of wrong ways raise a kid. I foresee a lot of possible arguments.
OffbeatAriel said
Hibryd, I thought about this exact issue for several months before launching Offbeat Mama and decided the only way I could deal with running a parenting blog is if it WASN'T contentious … something I wrote very explicitly into our mission and value statements, and commenting policies:
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Offbeat Mama is intended to be light, positive, and supportive. Just as their are lots of places online to argue over whose weddings are tacky or stupid, there are plenty of places online to argue over who's "wrong" in the way they're raising their kids. Just as Offbeat Bride isn't the former, Offbeat Mama isn't going to be one of the latter.
It comes down to this: I'm simply not paying the hosting bills to provide a place for people to argue with each other.
Hibryd said
"to" raise a kid. Typo.
Lena said
Hi Ariel, I just checked out the new site, it is great!!! My partner and I are just about to embark on the journey of trying to conceive which is quite scary but will also be a lot of fun *knowing giggle*. We have had many conversations about how we want to be as parents and looking at offbeatmama will definitly play a part in inspiring us to be true, to ourselves and to our future kids. Looking forward to participating!!!
Sarah said
I'll sneak over in a bit. Baby # 1 is about to turn 4 in December, and we might just start working on #2 in a little while.
redhotmomma said
i love it! i have a four year old and a two year old, and after the wedding we're probably shooting for number three. it'll be amazing to have a place to share my experiences as a mother with like-minded people.
Lolly said
I am one of those brides who honestly hates children (You can be married without ever reaching that "kid phase" at all, just saying), so I can't thank you enough for giving moms their *own* space. I do think there will be a fair amount of drama over there if it's not heavily moderated though.
OffbeatAriel said
Lolly, I totally recognize in the Offbeat Mama FAQ that starting a family is FAR from inevitable. I have a whole network of childfree friends of all ages, and fully support women making the best decisions for themselves about whether mothering is a path that interests them.
As for heavy moderation, you better fucking believe it — but that's business as usual for me. Comments on OBB are heavily moderated (it's inevitable that a site this popular dedicated to "weird" women would attract a whole slew of haters), and the OBT has five moderators to keep up with the volume of conversation over there. So of course Offbeat Mama will be just as heavily moderated, if not more so to accommodate the volatility that often arises with parenting discussions. I've anticipated moderation as a big issue since my very first mullings over Offbeat Mama — did you read my Offbeat Mama commenting policy?
I do not fuck around when it comes to my zero-tolerance for commenting drama.
London West said
I'm the last person you would expect to dig a baby blog (I am of the mind that kids in general are nothing but squishy, messy, stinky, noise machines who spread germs). However, that hasn't quite shut me out from appreciating the challenges of motherhood and having a ton of respect for those offbeat gals trying to raise their kids in their own way without succumbing to mainstream expectations. So, YAY! I'm glad you have this new blog.
Lisa said
I LOVE it! I'm a new mama and look forward to visiting your new blog often!