Blogging The NYT

We read with interest last Thursday's article in the NYT Baby Steps to a Label-Obsessed Life. The author (who is not a parent, but is an expert in kiddie couture) makes a shopping visit to Yoya in the West Village.

He shops the store and is admittedly impressed with the design of many of the items. However, he doubts whether any of it has mass appeal to children, writing "I’ve never met a 3-year-old who likes cerebral Euro-minimalism."

His basic premise is that parents who dress their children as mini versions of themselves and who outfit their children's surroundings with mid-c-inspired furniture are doing their little ones a disservice. He asks:

But what kid wants a bedroom to be a showcase for mini-Mies masterpieces? And by force-feeding children good taste, instead of allowing their My Little Pony moments of vulgarity, are parents starving them of self-expression?

Read the full article here and tell us what you think. Do you agree that children can't appreciate a modern room and playthings and that they gravitate towards the garrish? If so, then is creating a modern nursery an exercise in selfishness on the part of parents?

Comments (3)

Oh that's so ridiculous - what a lot of psycho babble. The same argument could be applied to parents who lazily let their children watch TV (thereby exposing them to the commercials for said plastic garishness). I know quite a few families who do the natural parenting / TV free thing, and those kids love their wooden Waldorf style cloth toys and are some of the brightest, most imaginative kids I know.

And their parents? Dedicated comes to mind, certainly not "selfish".

posted by kerflop on March 23rd 2007 at 6:39am
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I think there's a huge difference between "minimalist" meaning ascetic (no color, no fun shapes, no pleasant textures) and "modern". Modern to me just means great design - design that concentrates on line, material, color, and the relationship between the three. I think it's true that kids probably wouldn't gravitate towards an all-white all-angular all-hard surface environment - but who would decorate that way for them anyway?

From personal experience I can say this - we buy our daughter (year and a half old) a lot of natural - modern - toys, and a lot of her relatives buy her a lot of plastic garrishness. The garrishness amuses her for the first 45 minutes of having the blinking noisy toy, sure, but the natural stuff she comes back to again and again.

posted by fortytworoads on March 23rd 2007 at 1:43pm
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This article is funny when read alongside their earlier "Whose Bed is it Anyway" commentary.

Parents don't have any control. Wait, they do, and it's too much, AND it's ruining the children althogether...

NYT, make up your mind: am I ruining my child by leniency or control? A present diagnosis will assist him in future therapy.

posted by adrienne on March 24th 2007 at 12:01pm
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