This is going to sound horrible, but I hate that Cy’s toys/various baby accessories don’t match my decorating scheme. They don’t exactly go with the furniture. Or anything else for that matter. They are loud, and plastic, and multi-coloured – a battery assault on the visual senses. and they’re multiplying at an alarming rate!

Dust and I are modernists. We like clean lines, muted colours, minimal embellishments and no fuss. We have worked hard to amass a series of pieces that complement this aesthetic. And I’m quite pleased with our results thus far. We’re still lacking some major items, (like a lamp for the dining room!) but all in good time. A well furnished home takes years of thoughtful planning and character building. I’m very much against insta-decorating. Unique pieces have to be collected over time, not maxed out on a credit card in one fell swoop. But I digress…

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say, I wish toys designers would rely on a little more, well, modern design. Be a little more eye and decor-friendly. Of course, then they would cease to be to true toys and merely decorations to be displayed on the mantle and not touched (gasp) by the little ones. Toys need to stimulate and educate and entertain. I get that. Yet I can’t help but cringe every time I look at Cy’s new exersaucer. He loves it of course. Functionally, it is pretty wonderful. Thanks to Babcia (bab-cha – grandma in Polish), he’s happily amused for hours on end while I cook, clean or just sit on the couch and watch in wonder. The exersaucer plays music, rattles, crinkles, beeps, vibrates, spins, bounces, and makes me want to vomit. Every time I scan the room my eyes are magnetically drawn to the tacky blue and yellow and orange and green thing in the corner. Ugh.

I’m suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to redecorate everything in pure white – just to soothe my senses and balance things out. I now totally get the concept of a ‘playroom.’