TikTok is evil. No one ran around questioning colour before. 😂 my baby’s most reached for toys were brightly coloured. He didn’t even touch the neutral ones. As a toddler he loves wooden spoons and Tupperware containers.
Either way, because it’s an “aesthetic”, it has become costly. Fisher price and all the “loud toys” are expensive, but the “sad beige” or “natural wood” Montessori toys are now marketed at high prices too. For low budget families thrifted and second hand toys become the only affordable option and “aesthetics” become irrelevant.
If we didn’t have a colourful baby home I wouldn’t have known my sons favourite colour from such a young age…. I have nothing orange in my home due to disliking this colour myself but I didn’t let that stop me buying orange baby toys, he picks out his orange toys over all others & everywhere we go so I’m so glad he had this in his home through his toys and furniture bits 🥰
My favourite colour was brown, but my Mum pushed me onto green. But when asked, I did explain that trees were brown, and I loved trees. They told me trees are green, but I said that was just the leaves which fall off every year, but the brown part lasts. And don't think at three I couldn't have said all that, I could and I did. And multiple decades later, I remember that. I thought it was horrid I couldn't choose my favourite colour myself.
But some beige moms (not just moms, but beige parents in general) take it too far. For example, there is one whose name I can’t remember, but she was spray painting her babies toys. It’s not seems controlling, but it also dangerous because those spray pants are not edible and babies put everything in their mouths.
Babies are the most curious species in the world, so turning their worlds into single tone monochromatic beige shades wouldn't trigger their sensory nerves to process anything. It almost feels like color blindness. I am not a medical person, but i am sure there are certain theories behind it. Make children's room colorful from the beige aesthetic home!
Nature is full of colours, if you look closer, you find the world is colourful. I think it depends on what you want to focus on when you look at the world. We are blessed to be able to see this colourful world, let’s embrace this. 🌺🌈💐🐞🐝🌲
Yeah, exactly, the natural world outside is full of pure and real colors (not dyed plastic or colors on a screen), if the inside is more neutral and calming, the child can experience contraction-expectation, intense bright bursts of colors outside and woody/uterus feel on the inside… that is key for a healthy life!
You did touch on it but I want to back up your point. I'm a early childhood educator and in my studies we learn a lot about the environment as the second teacher. There is a lot of studies and theories based on exactly this, Montessori and Reggio Emilia approach being the most wide known play theories and what a lot of play and exploration curriculums are based on in Canada. All of these theories ENCOURAGE a neutral, none stimulating environment that encourages play and indirectly guides behaviour. So much so that in the center I work at it is policy that the walls and furniture stay neutral with as many natural play items and lose parts as possible. We still have lots of colors in our toys and we set up so many play provocations based on or including colours so there is no lack either. When things are set up this way the room feels cleaner and brighter without being "steralized white", and it is much easier to get the kids to be relaxed and engaged in the calming environment. As you've mentioned it is much easier on the eyes and mind helping the children and even educators focus easier and stay on task without becoming over stimulated during the day.
Exactly, we as humans have raised babies for hundreds of years without tons of brightly colored toys in the house! Whether it’s completely sad beige or completely loud colors, any extreme isn’t great. Balance is important.
Im not fussed about how other mums want to display their home but I hate the excuse that for a place to be calm it has to be void of colour. I totally understand aesthetic. I hate fischer price toys too. (I still have them but hidden away). My home is colourful and each room has a specific colour scheme, but these colours aren’t all super saturated meaning I still have colours in my house and everything matches, so my child can enjoy colours but its not overwhelming. Little dutch toys for example are colourful while still being aesthetically pleasing. There are so many colourful yet CALMING interiors I just dont get why people just stick with a white beige nursery??? How is beige calming but a soft powder blue isnt?? Im an interior designer so I probably see colour theory differently though. I just wish more people would try it. Edit: there is also more to gender neutral than shades of cream!!! I also wont accept that as an answer to the beige trend lol.
Literally it's possible to have color and still have things be calming. I feel like these people are just lying about any color being "overstimulating" to them. The thing that bothers me about them using the word overstimulating in particular is I know some of these beige aesthetic having people (not all of them, of course!) probably would not respect an actual autistic person who is overstimulated. If asked to meet their needs they'd just zap all color from a room and assume it was fine without accounting for things that are actually likely to lead to overstimulation, like texture, sound, or smell. I also just freaking hate the beige/rich aesthetic lol, no matter who it's on
I think what's bad is not just just the lack of color, but it being paired with minimalist interior. Babies need stimulation, they need to learn colors and textures and shapes. Especially since babies can't see that we'll, a hospital like room full of white/greige shapes blending in together sounds super depressing. I remember having to lie in my bed as a child an having nothing to look at but the white wallpaper and an empty overhead window and it wasn't fun. But we at least had irregularly textured wallpaper. Please give children's rooms some personality. I still struggle with sense of style and what I even like as an adult after barely getting to develop a personality as a child/teen.
Totally. My mom had the house in a fancy modern gothic style, I loved it but didn’t want it in my room, neither did my sister, so she let us have our own style for our own rooms.
I think that game experiment wasn't set up too well. There's a difference between colorful and totally garish and busy. That colorful background was a total mess. Why didn't they do the game with a one color background? Or maybe a rainbow? Also, one of the most calming colors is a light shade of green. There's the green room in theatres where actors would go to relax prior to their shows. You can do relaxing but still have color. I guess the thing I have with sad beige moms is that it seems like a lot of them are doing it for tiktok clout or insta views. It's on trend with rich people, so I think a lot of these people are copying that to emulate the rich people. It's been that way for centuries. The rich people adopt something and eventually it trickles down to the masses. Once it gets popular with the masses, the rich people do something different because they don't want to look like the masses. In a few years when the rich decide to do something different, the sad beige aesthetic will be a thing of the past. If you wanna have a beige room, cool. But if you are showing off your beige room on your socials, then people will potentially judge you. And if these women become one of those moms that won't allow a certain toy because it doesn't fit the aesthetic, or won't hang up their kid's art work because it doesn't fit their aesthetic, well I'm sorry. I'm going to judge you cuz that kinda sucks. Little kids do have preferences. To ignore their preference in what is essentially their room because of your aesthetic is pretty crappy in my opinion.
Yeah as someone from a scientific household I can say that 'study' would never hold up as valid research. There needs to be a control group and much larger number of participants. The preferential setup would one group plays with the colorful toys on only a white background, one group only on a colored background, and one group both backgrounds. Maybe 50 kids per group and that's still a smaller study.
I can think of three other reasons parents lean into the “sad beige” aesthetic: 1. If you’re investing in expensive baby gear (clothes, bouncers, furniture, etc) and plan on having more than one child, picking items that are beige or in otherwise neutral colors, allows the items to be more flexible from child to child. 2. A lot of parents do not want to push their children into stereotypical boy or girl roles and looks so choosing neutral color pallets for clothes or toys supports those efforts. 3. This is related to the overstimulated/overwhelmed point. If your child’s clothes are all in a certain color scheme and all go together, it makes laundry and dressing your child much easier when you have enough other stuff going on.
I totally agree with these points. For me personally, I get overwhelmed with brightness. Not colour, but how neon and bright somethings are. I am neurodivergent mad this has always been a problem for me, loud noises and brightness. So especially as I adjusted to motherhood, this made sense. As my daughter grows, she gets to pick her own things and as it has all happened more slowly, easier for me too.
@@nadjakari1752Well, guess what children's toys are made bright because it helps your children's find motor skills developed and helps your children's neurological development. And it's not about what you want. It's about what's best for your children. So that's simple.
same here! as someone who loves colorful nature patterns and wild florals, we also know that in nature, those colors and plants grow from a canvas of brown dirt. also, a lot of childrens toys are in artificially manufactured shades that we dont actually see in nature. rather than the plastic in these often overstimulating shades, i would much prefer to see all the colors outside in organisms - people, animals, places.
I FULLY lean into the colors of having a kid. I have a royal blue velvet couch, purple Indian window valances as curtains. Colorful lanterns, a purple nugget 🤣 I love color in my own personal life… also my five year old says his fave color is -- and lists 20 colors 🤣🤣🤣
You laid out exactly how I feel about this! I just also have to remember that a) sometimes I need to "give" a little and, despite my OCD and ADHD, let my kid enjoy things that don't "fit in my box" sometimes, and b) being able to minimize my overstimulation from loud colors, patterns, and toys is a privilege and I need to make sure I'm not trying to use my preferred aesthetic as a status symbol
I think there has to be a balance…. You can love and have neutrals to keep for each child if you’re having more than one and use neutrals to pair decorations and clothes easily. HOWEVER, color is important for kids to see!!! Color, texture, shapes, sounds, sights, tastes, etc. are all SO important for kids to experience to become good, productive, kind humans who contribute and elevate their communities. I also think some people choose neutrals with more muted colors because they feel overwhelmed/overstimulated. However, I really hope they don’t start watching tv in black/white/sepia to go with their aesthetic
I agree on the need for balance as a guy who's more prone to wearing the same colors just so I don't have to think about that part of the day. I want to at least have something like a color immersion space for my kids if we don't have a bunch of colorful toys constantly around. I'd also like to get them into music and have them start to think about colors in that way as well (chord voicings, scales, melodies, etc). The main problem I see is that we're a society of one extreme or the other. Advocating for a balance for an entire video isn't as engaging as one specifically advocating for the maximum amount of stimulus or hardly any at all.
I’ve always been a beige person. My favorite color has always been white/ivory/cream. I remember as a kid thinking my baby cousin looked so adorable in a simple white onesie. I agree it lets the beauty of children shine through when they wear simple clothing. While I’m not a beige mom because almost all our clothes were hand me downs, I definitely don’t hate on them. Also my daughter plays way better with her simple toys than she does with the bright colors
I feel the exact same way about baby outfits! I like simple things that can be colourful, that enhance my baby's cuteness rather than overshadowing him
Actually, there have been studies going on about neutral colors affecting the whole world mental and neurological health. A study looked specifically to the electronic devices colors evolution and how that could relate to some of the anxiety and depression rise. It's not a conclusive study for everything regarding colors and mental and neurological health, but those are the first steps and they are promising. Of course a child doesn't need a neon ball with all the colors existing and some created by monkeys, but taking away colors from everything around them is in the other end of this problem.
Do you have some links for any of these studies? I'd be interested to see the parameters of these studies. For example the one in this video would never hold up in the scientific world because not only was it beyond way too small but there wasn't a control group. So if these are valid studies you're referring to, I'd be very interested in what they say
I just want to say, I'm a graphic designer and I've been loving your new thumbnails. Your content of course is amazing, and I really enjoy your vlogs, but I wanted to recognize the post creative work too!
I have lots of pastels and dashes of bright pinks and yellows in my nursery, but it's mostly natural colors. I refuse to get toys that make sound or have flashing lights because I can not emotionally handle it. Haha I do have bright wood stacking blocks, but those can easily be put away after play time. I also have baby instruments, where the sounds aren't so damn stressful. Also, sing to your babies! Babies love hearing your voice, even if you can't hold a note. Haha I made my own toys as well! I had so much cardboard after my baby shower, so I cut some different shapes into the cardboard and glued different textured and colored fabrics strips behind the shapes for tummy time. Super cheap, super high contrast, easy to put away. I have a nice low light lamp as well as the regular room light, so I can adjust how bright I want it to be in there. I don't know, there's a balance, but I refuse to have my house he overstimulating. I don't even have aTV. Haha .
To argue for a beige/neutral aesthetic by bringing up how children have "been raised since the dawn of time without color" discounts the recorded history of humans love affair with color. Throughout human history, humans have gone to very great lengths to obtain pigment to produce color for everything from cookware to clothing
I haven’t finished watching this video and I enjoy the discussion in the comments. I think some mothers just take it too far, Delilah Loeppky for example, you can say it’s her aesthetic and she is allowed to have preferences but seeing how much that is pushed onto her children who have their own personalities is pretty selfish. The clothes that are brown, tan, beige, white, that look like what a child during the Great Depression would wear, seems like it’s all her own doing, i don’t think a child would choose to wear something that boring.
People are so hung up with having no colour in their building blocks BUT the same people aren't concerned getting their lead painted loud toys from SHEIN.
This was very interesting to listen to. I’m not on tiktok so I’ve missed the entire discussion. When my kids we’re small there was more of a ”everything white” trend which I was totally on board with. Now I’m more for the colourful, cozy vibe think old english library. I never was a fan of all the ”loud” toys (in regards to both sound and look) but my kids for sure had them. It’s so interesting with the research you found, kids with less toys usually play more focused and for longer increments of time so I think it’s ’common sense’ that less color would provide more space for imagination.
Honestly the toys cost the same as the brighter ones. There’s so many affordable muted toned toys! But it’s not just for the aesthetic, personally, my aesthetic is more dark rich tones, but for my daughter I buy muted pastels and wooden things. When we go grocery shopping down the cereal isle my little girl doesn’t even respond to anyone or anything because she is so overstimulated by all the bright stuff going on around her. She literally sits there like a zombie, deadeyed😭😂 that’s why I stray away from brighter flashing loud toys, I want her to engage with her toys not be zombified by them. I feel like a lot of toys now a days are meant to just distract your baby for as long as possible, not actually get them to engage in open ended play.
@@WhimsicalCrochet I guess when I think of beige toys I think of lovevery and stuff which are obviously way more. I think it's still much harder to find clothes in the lower price range that aren't as brightly colored. You're also forgoing lots of hand me downs based on an aesthetic.
@@shannonbrown8918 I don't find this to be true at all. I'm a new mom and I bought(facebook marketplace) and received a lot of secondhand and hand me downs that were already neutral. Also places like carters and HM have tons of neutral clothes. Yes, the Lovevery toys are expensive, but if I'm planning on having another child I don't have to rebuy those toys. And since most are wooden, they are durable. And if not - they could definitely be resold.
Loved this video. Im definitely a neutral mom. I love my natural earth tones in my home and for my children's things. I find it very calming. We have lived this way many years before it was a trend or "aesthetic" we believe in Montessori living and play. Wooden toys have always been pricey so mainly I thrift and support small toy shops when I can. Anyways love your channel been following for years.
Interesting video. Thank you for sharing! I personally don’t necessarily think that it matters whether or not kids are dressed colorful or play with colorful toys. A kids good development can’t be narrowed down to the colors they’re wearing or the beigy toys they’re playing with. There is much more to it. Although Montessori or Minimalism philosophy recommends toys out of natural materials (which are also very expensive) I don’t think that most of these aesthetic kids toys companies are selling beige products because of this natural aspect, but more because of the trend they become on social media, and because it sells very good. A lot of families rely on secondhand children gear or handmedowns, because of they’re low income or because aesthetic doesn’t really matter that much to them. As long as you raise your kids with good values, let them discover the world by spending a lot of time outside, loving them unconditionally, toys or clothes don’t really matter at the end of the day. Also that mom who gets overstimulated by colorful toys? Sorry don’t really believe that. :)
I personally that mom was suffering from untreated postpartum depression. I've never seen anyone get so emotional over colors. It's sad but a lot of moms suffering from postpartum depression either don't realize it, or won't get treatment because it means they couldn't breastfeed their kids anymore. Child can thrive on formula or breastmilk, but it's a lot harder for a child to thrive with a mom who isn't well
I know that colors shouldn't be a big deal in parenting...but there are studies that show how important bright colors are to babys as their brains are developing.
You're study that you quoted with 15 participants is disgusting. I could have 15 participants that prove human beings only have one leg. 15 is barely enough to be considered a study. Also researched this study that you quoted. It's a Montessori study. Of course that study's going to agree with absolutely everything you said because that's all you do is vomit out their garbage. Shame on you for pushing that like that's a legitimate study Edit there's also millions of studies out there that prove that study absolutely wrong. I put that study in to medicine stick. And it rated as poorly as I've ever seen. Any study rated. It's beyond bias. It's beyond Also, the accused the creators of making the data fit and leaving the data that didn't fit their thesis out. So it's the scientific equivalent of forcing a square peg into a round hole. Just because you want that square peg to fit in that round hole and you shove it in there doesn't mean there isn't huge gaps in the whole and in your research. Maybe you should have looked into it a little bit harder. Also, I think it's really disingenuous of you to go on about how nature's muted. When absolutely every color we find is in nature. It's not just pops of color. Nature is color itself. The light is color. It's composed of all the colors we need to make every other color in the world. Just going to add that. I'm not sure if you're aware. We don't live like our prehistoric ancestors did anymore. We have very, very very different lives. You can even just go back 100 years ago. I know people who are over 100 years old and we live extremely different than most people did back then. So to talk about how and the way we lived in prehistoric times like that's relevant at all to the way the world is. Today is just absurd. Also, I looked up that stick as a toy. The absolute first toy ever found that isn't just something that someone could use their imagination for. Are brightly colored seashells. It's evident that they were used as toys for small children. You see the two key words in that sentence brightly and color. The fact of the matter is even back. Then we realized children need a color in their lives. Even in your example, well the part you just left out cuz it's convenience to your argument. Is they understood their children need a color to develop. Even in some of the earliest, civilizations like Mesopotamia children's toys are generally tend to be brightly colored. This is something that we've known and understood for well longer than we've ever understood most medical information. So you bringing up the fact that prehistoric children played with sticks is just I don't even know what to say to that. In fact, there is untouched tribes in the rainforest that have had zero contact with the outside world. And their children have bright and colorful toys made up of local ingredients. There is an indigenous tribe in South America that has had zero contact with the outside world and anthropologists have studied them through looking at their leftover campsites. And they find colorful children's toys there. So even in your example of prehistoric people, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't fit again with the square peg into the round hole. Anything to justify your choice. Look if you want your kids to be behaved then that's your right.
Bla bla bla bla... seriously? Couples should have some sort of cognitive test before being allowed to procreate. Like a parents license should really be a thing. Imagine how much grief would be spared for the poor parents and for the kids that wouldn't be born from clueless parents that can't even give up their fucking aesthetics for, what... 5 yeas? "Do kids even need color?" Yes, they do! To this day my brother and I talk about the colors of our childhood
I like colour, and babies like colour. It’s not true that they don’t like anything; kids seek out colourful things. Give a baby a choice of either beige stuff or colourful things, and they will go for the colourful things time after time. That said, it seems like a lot of these examples sound like mom’s with autism - colours are too loud, they’re screaming at them, it’s overstimulating.
I agree, I also think whatever you like is fine! I love color so I bought a lot of gender neutral bright colored outfits and things, but I prefer toys to be more neutral (in some ways) because we follow a Montessori household. We do a bit of both and it works for us. I’m not sure why moms judge each other so much, everyone likes different things (when it comes to aesthetic).
Seriously, and there’s so many reasons why non overstimulating toys benefit babies more, but all that set aside, even if it WAS just for the aesthetic, so what😂 the amount of things a baby needs is so overwhelming in and of itself, why not have it look nice🤷♀️ it’s not like people aren’t getting their kids toys because they take up room, they just don’t want to see toys everywhere and have a panic attack because of all the chaos lol.
You can excuse sadbeige moms all you want, but I think putting someone with shitty eyesight (eg babies) into a contrastless beige house is not good, especially if said person is in a rapid vision development phase for like a year, especially if it's a pandemic and you're in a city where you can't go look at wildflowers. Like jeez, at least put some dark browns or dark greens in the room so the bqby has something to learn focusing on. At least those hanging things that move around above a playmat or bed.
I used to be so colorful in everyway till I had kids, and then life felt so busy and hectic I went sad beige mum calm my home down, now I'm trying to bring colour back in to give it some life but still keep it calm
i think ya all need some therapy. this void of colouor really isnt natural and like, what ya all going to do when they step outside and see colour? brown wasnt the only thing used in building houseing. yes it might have been a primary but red is a promint colour is alot of clays, yellow is promint when making roofing, green grass was also used as a roofing to, deep dark colours for diferent tree types. also growing up with a stick, can say it was horrible. much perferd toys like every other kid had at that age. plus artistic sense is formed at a young age. artists start young. what ya going to do if they wanna do art?
You completely missed the point of the video. She is not saying to restrict your kids color at all. Just basically saying it’s OK to have a neutral home setting because your kid will get color from many different places, such as books, playing outside, playgrounds, and school. Home is a place that is meant to be relaxing and when things are too busy it is hard to quiet your mind.
@@baileymadison9019 no i got the point and the point is to deprive enrichment to childern. colour dosent always mean noise and if you wanna deprive them of something then how will they learn to build coping skills to handle it when they are on thier own? instead of removing it, teach your kids how to properly handle it. since that is something as a parent you need to do instead of leaving it up to others to do. then again parents these days seem wuite fine to leave thier kids to be parented by others. this soft parenting is getting out of hand for the wrong reasons. also kids might not be getting as much as you think from school. you are also depriving them from learning about colours and what if they want to paint or play with something or want something thier fav colour? this none colour busshit just contuines to show just how much of a accessory a child is to the parent instead of being a human being. if you truly had the kids best interest at hear here, then you would do research into colours and find what best one works. yellow is great for energy, dark blues and purples for sleep, whites will drive anyone insane since its a common colour used in mental hospitals....
@@baileymadison9019 also build a space for taht in your home but dont let your entire home be this. that sounds like a ward room trap of a home. and these basie mom's places look and feel like it. are they trying to keep a mental patient?
I get that we were always surrounded by neutral colours and they're more calming than rainbow colors. My own home is just a mixture of grey, black and wood because too much colour is over stimulating for me as well. But that one mom doesn't give their children FRUIT, because they're too colorful. There's nothing healthy about that, that's really just selfish and careless. Colourless environment? Great. Not much overstimulation for moms and the kids. But avoiding colourful food, even though it's healthy? That's just too much.
😂😂😂 I get SO stressed with clothes that has kittens, airplanes monsters, arrows, unicorns, dots, lines, circles etc etc on the same tshirt... we have som inbetween life here but Im happy I got kids after the coulor/shape era where the more the better was the cool way.
I was anti minimalism and anti beige trend. But I can agree that maxamalism can be another extreme. We need a good ratio of stimuli, you need a white background to see colours, and some combinations look nicer. You need a visual symphony not a mess. That why I believe in both complexity but enough space to see the wood from the trees. To let the little details stand out
I hate to say it but I think that mom in a breakdown you used as an example for why beige could be beneficial for parents had postpartum depression. Baby's and toddlers need colorful toys. Having a neutral nursery but allowing colored toys would be fine, but there needs to color. Also that "study" in scientific standards can't really be considered a real study. For a real scientific study there needs to be a control group and a large number of participants. Also, they were still playing with colorful toys it looked like. It was just that they were at least appearing to get overstimulated with color on color, but it wasn't a proper study so it shouldn't be cited. And yes I agree that kids with a good imagination can have fun with anything even a stick. However, having color in their lives more than in just food and nature helps nurture creativity and imagination. We need to look at things very critically. And honestly, what kind of parent puts their aesthetic above their child's best interests? It sounds like you have a decent amount of color in your childrens' lives which is great! But putting social media and aesthetic before a kid is seriously messed up and that's what most of these instagram and tiktok moms are doing
haha i loved this video! I'm like you a good mix. I personally love all the biege colors. Thats my style and our houses style. But for my kids I like the neutral style because its easier to dress them. Since I'm more minimal it means I can dress them in not a lot of different clothes because they all match with each other. I also definitly rhink color could be too crazy and stress me out so I don't want my children to be stressed because of all the craziness.
The problem here is that the millennial mom is, on average, the mom that has done the most research into child development of all the moms, leaning about gentle parenting, natural materials and minimal toy exposure to avoid overstimulation. Then come childless angry gen z and with their limited memories of childhood, decide to sh*t all over it because they don't get it. Wait 10 years and they'll all be b&w moms of whatever the version will be by then. What's the alternative? Colourful plastic cr*p? No thanks. 90s kids will remember how crazy their childhood was, full of clutter and plastic and trash. We want better for our children.
I know I'm late to this video (just got it recommended), but I think your comment misses the nuance of reality. 1. This isn't a generation war. 2. The counter argument to beige moms isn't everything hyper colourful (PS late 90s and early 2000s "kids" that are now adults - and are a part of Gen Z - also grew up with hideously bright toys), but a middle ground. All shades of colours have a place in stimulating creativity, but of course in moderation.
As a 90's kid I can say my childhood did not include clutter plastic and trash! I loved getting to pick out what color I wanted my new toy to be. What's next, are you only going to buy your child the skintone colored crayons and markers? Color helps develop and breed creativity and imagination. Plus the most calming color isn't white or beige it's a shade of green! Also, you're into natural, so are you okay with your kid being exposed to lead and arsenic? Those are some of the most natural things around. You can't get more natural than elements on the periodic table!
@@Margot_Lazarus You're projecting, my dear. My home is quite colourful, but I get why some would want to live in calmer looking homes. When you have a small baby you crave calm, and neutral colours feel calmer to many people. Besides, kids see colour everywhere they go, they're not locked up in a beige room with no windows, they are outside and the world is colourful. It's ok for mama to design her home more minimally if that helps her relax after a long day of taking care of her baby.
I loved this video. Thanks for the research, Ashley. Super interesting. We're more of the medium beige variety here too. That mom who talked about being overstimulated by too many colorful and loud toys was speaking to me! ❤
As somebody who looks at research studies in my job, this is not a well researched study. In fact, that study that she quoted the one actual scientific study she quoted is highly unethical. And I don't mean that ethical like they hurt the children or something like that. I mean scientifically and ethical. 15 preschoolers is not a study. 1500 maybe but 15. No. In fact, if you put that into medical stick that study it comes up as highly questionable. They speak of the fact that the designers of the study had an upcoming mind and made the data fit. It's the scientific equivalent of taking a square peg and shoving it into a round hole. Sure you can get it to fit but there's going to be gaps both in the whole and in your research. Especially because the study has never been able to been independently replicated when done by more reputable researchers. This research team was funded by an organization who puts his this lifestyle. Who makes money selling this lifestyle to mothers. So of course they're going to get that at approve. This big business products work. That's what they were hired for. It's like a pastry chef making pastries. If you came out with spaghetti, you'd be mad at your pastry chef. Also, as far as nature being muted, that's ridiculous. Absolutely every color on the planet comes from nature. Even neons. Have you ever seen tropical fish or birds. And as far as going on about how prehistoric children, while I'm not sure if you know this, we don't live like our prehistoric ancestors. In fact, some of the earliest civilizations children's toys were brightly colored. Mesopotamia. In fact, they have found tons of children's toys and they're all brightly colored. Of course, over the thousands of years they've been laying in the dirt. They have become muted but with technology we can recreate the original shade and it's always very, very vibrant. So even back in earliest civilization we knew children need it bright toys. In fact, one of the earliest forms of children's toys ever to be found were brightly colored seashells. So even in her examples with just a little bit more, looking for an example that maybe doesn't really fit her faces. You find thousands of examples that don't fit. Look you can give a kid a cardboard box and they can make it a toy. It doesn't make it the original toy. I have to add an edit. Our prehistoric ancestors grow up in the grasslands of Africa. The grasslands are the reason for our bipedalism which freed up our hands which gave us a thumbs which gave us our big brains. So really the first original toy would have been bright green grass.
Once my son is old enough to have interests he can have whatever graphic tees he wants, I just think it's silly to have baby's wearing words and symbols that they don't even understand lol
I personally say do whatever works for you. I just think having a beige house is depressing I like colors it makes me feel happy and uplifted. Also, how are they keeping that stuff clean is my question because kids are gross and nasty and they get things dirty, and all that beige how do they keep it clean?
I definitely am not a sad beige mom lol! Not into obnoxious amounts of color either. But I find the aesthetic kinda boring to look at, and tan clothes don't make me feel pretty without a pop of color. Pretty colors make me happy. ☺️
Got to warn you When i was a child, my mom tried to dress me elegantly, in calm colors, limited bright and shiny things. Now, as an adult woman, I compensate for this as much as possible and dress like a parrot :)
I’m really hoping someone will talk about the lack of blue or ‘boy gendered’ colored things available for newborns. Everything comes in blush pink and grey- That’s it. I want navy! I want ocean tones. I want oranges and yellows and forest greens. Obviously baby doesn’t care and gender roles are dumb, but I still love blue and orange for my boy. But it’s like the companies only cater to girls or gender neutral options, maybe as a lack of appreciation for men/boys and it’s so frustrating as a boy mom (I mean mom of a boy, not a crazy pick me)
Lets make things more simple. No toys. Baki from Baki the Grappler teaches us that the perfect human's sole purpose in life is to fight without any fear of death. No objects are needed. Baki lives in a vandalized house. No beauty needed.
Everything is now pink per my daughters preference.... The room we rent is mustard color w red curtains. The floor is dark brown concrete. So there are all these contrastong colors that make my brain scramble.
I have a lot of respect for beige moms. I’m not organized enough to be a beige mom. Give me all the colors and patterns, because kids are messy and they hide the stains. 😅
My answer to the beige mom saying she needs less loud toys so she can parent better cuz she isn’t as “overstimulated,” get over it. You’re an adult just parent better.
love this video, I think the only topic you didn't cover (which is totally fine I just want to bring it up) is how the beige mom (whether it be sad or not), is also kind of a status symbol, at least it has been in my experience. If you see a mom and she is pushing a beige or black high end stroller, kids are in neutral clothes, sucking on pacifiers without polka dots and animal logos, holding backpacks without characters on them: you know she has some money because those things cost! In my experience I want to have the less stimulating colors and clothes but everywhere I go those options are almost always the most expensive and I just can't afford it. Of course I am generalizing but I am curious how others feel. I feel sometimes embarrassed and like my lack of disposable income is on display when I have the dinosaur stroller I thrifted and character tshirts that were hand me downs.
In conclusion, it costs to be a sad beige mom sometimes Lol. And I wonder if some of the backlash they face is coming from others' bitterness that they can't afford the montessori/neutral stuff...
I love this point for the discussion!! I realize now, that in my head, the box for these "beige" (I think in my head they're the "natural") moms is actually not so much about the aesthetic, even though now rich people have adopted this aesthetic but about the parenting style, methods, approach, stimulation, values etc etc. I think it's great when moms are able to be environmentally conscious and use hand me downs or thrifted items (since there's already SO much children stuff on this planet) and I think I discern a mom dressed in clothes that might not be in style but are very functional with kids in hand-me-downs with characters, sparkles and stuff based on her demeanor and the children's demeanor. I strongly take into consideration the materials of the pieces, and it also often shows that the pieces that look purchased new are usually natural materials like linen, cotton etc, while the rich beige folk are out and about with fancy beige items made out of polyester, things from fast fashion brands, indoor decor that is focused on trendyness etc. The "natural" or more conscious moms are interacting patiently and with curiosity and empathy towards their kids even as they play with multicoloured cheap plastic toys they got, the things are in order and are kept in a functional non-excessive manner. While the rich beige aesthetic people will have loads of things, the trendier the better, their kids often have access to electronics, the toys are not organized nor focused on function and development or desires of the child, they are either for looks, or dumped into big boxes and in an overstimulating mess of loose (albeit "beige") parts etc etc. So while there is an aspect of moms who might adopt the beige aesthetic, I have a strong distinction between beige natural moms, beige trendy moms, and moms who are beige natural but aren't focusing their time and values (for example in the form of working) on acquiring all of their gear in beige or trendier versions. But these moms are also clearly distinct from the clueless moms (for lack of better term) that have loads of things dumped and mixed in boxes, but the things aren't beige but colourful. The mindful "poor" beige moms are thoughtful and each thing they own but also physically do and say looks deliberate and it clearly delineates them from the alternatives. TL;DR worry not, being tight on money is impractical and can be uncomfortable in today's society where it feels like safe non-toxic products are only for the rich, the reality is that aside poverty so bad that the child starves and is strongly nutrient defficient, everything else about your parenting will have a much more lasting impact on both their mental AND physical wellbeing.
I disagree greatly with you. There’s always plain tshirts, you don’t HAVE to buy character tshirts. Even with hand me downs and thrifting we have been able to get simple, basics that aren’t crazy colors nor character. You don’t have to have very expensive items either. In fact the less things you have the better for growing minds and for encouraging imaginative play. We have a lot of things and as we are removing our very nice, very visually pleasing toys, my kids are more calm.
Crazy patterns will never cover up the smile of your baby, soooo nope, this argument is not for me ;). Too boring all these "neutral" colours, when our nature is so gorgeous and colorful. I guess it depends on where you are living. For example, in India, especially Goa, or Bali a lot of colorful fuits, green land, ocean and seas, sunsets, and sunrises-everything is full of life. Sad Beige moms are so depressingly boring. If its just a sand without colorful seaweed and ocean aquamarine, don't call me on this party 😅
I don't know if this has any relevance, but I used to work at a daycare looking after children between ages 1-3 years, and any "colourful" activity that we would put infront of the children (ie. play-doh), they would only be focused for a short amount of time, but get a stick (like you had mentioned) and their attention could've been had for hours. The children were more engaged playing with leaves, sand, mud, and cardboard than colour sorting blocks, and though our 'toys' were natural resources, I wouldn't consider us a 'sad beige' daycare. They still saw colour in the clothes they put on while playing dress up, the books we would read with them, the plates they ate off of when it was snack time, and of course, greenery when exploring the outside. There were numerous articles at one point that said, children found a lot of colour overstimulating and that it didn't actually benefit their life any more than natural colours. However, using colour was a great way to teach children certain things. I.e using colour to resemble moods; blue being sad, yellow being happy, etc. Personally, I think there should be a happy medium with it all. I wouldn't go as far as only providing natural resources for my kids or dressing them in only beige, but I would want them to experience both worlds. There are options to have the beige, and the colour without it being overstimulating or OTT. Interesting video, even for someone who doesn't yet have children.
I agree and think personally my happy medium is colourful but "natural" tones, mostly blues, greens, and warm neutrals with pops of brighter warm colours that feel like glimpses of birds, flowers, or fruit amongst the leaves 😋
I think it’s more a personality preference, I’m a quiet and calm person and I prefer clean lines in a home with 2-3 pops of bright colour, colour energizes me and helps me feel more bubbly, For a more naturally energetic and loud personality it would make sense for them to want to live in a subdued environment of browns/beiges etc.
I mostly just focus on furniture being one color, most of my furniture is black or coffee brown. And the accent things are black, white, or grey, then each room has its own accent colors. Like the bathroom has a light aqua color with the black bathroom furniture. In the livingroom the furniture is black but most of my todlers toys are there in a grey basket and a black shelf full of colorful toys and the accent pillows on my couches are colorful so it doesnt look chaotic. All the house walls are beige or white so there's no over stimulation. I personally need contrast to feel like things aren't overwhelming or too dull and depressing. So having dark furniture helps me be more organized not feel like everything looks the same. Then if I want to add a bit of color I can add a bit and make it match throughout the room so it's not overwhelming and only hints of color rather than a whole bunch of chaos. I'm also a creative so I need my home to feel artistic but not cluttered and chaotic.
I love this video. I dont even think it needs to go even as far back as hunter-gatherer times. Early twentieth century toys and further back were not bright primary colours. Bedrooms in normal households were rarely decorated to the child's tastes. Many of these things are recent and, due to clever marketing, people really believe that rainbow colours plastered everywhere is child-centred. My SD goes to a nursery that has beige or muted colours which, research has shown, has a big impact on mood and settling in.
It's just a trend just like everything else. Makeup, clothing, to decor. We're followers and gravitate to what's popular. But I also agree to brightly colored items can be over stimulating or is it just to having too many items. Just a phase. See what the trend will be like a few years from now🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for this perspective. I have a family member I always judged for her beige choices. Now I get it. She is very anxious and healing from a rough childhood so her choices make a lot more sense to me now
I feel ideally 1 colour atleast should be in the mix with the neutrals. For me I like Blues, Black, White, Greys. Not a fan of Beige, cream or Brown personally.
Actually my parenting "style" was (s)low stimulation parenting. I specifically desired something very calming, and while pops of colour are absolutely a yes, I preder big solid coloured pieces, for both, myself and my child. If I am overstimulated why should my child not be? Whenever I see physiotherapists in their videos use the flashiest toys to get the children's attention (and usually to great success) I always think that they're selfishly focusing on the sole aspect of physical capabilities of the child and disregarding his mental calmness, attention etc. Bright colours are loud in our brains because poisonous animals (and even some mushrooms etc) are brightly coloured to warn us away from them, so we are born to view them as a threat. Just as you will notice a 90° angle in the wild or a piece of plastic, or garbage and it will stick out to you, because it's unnatural, out of place and poses a risk. So while yes, it benefits the moms and the whole family, I think it also greatly benefits the kids, and had this in mind. Playing on occasion with loud toys isn't banned but it is not something I will actively introduce into their space. The whole greige trend is around so much now because people are running away from colour and want at least a single calm space to let their eyes and brains rest. Apparently, the average American sees 4,000 to 10,000 ads daily. We recently had a trip to a more remote part of one country with very little billboards and I realized that I feel much calmer, and SAFER about my driving. Since you have to follow the signs, you have to keep looking at them, and each time there's an add, you have to exert mental effort to discern "oh it's just an add, I can look back" but then are likelier to miss relevant traffic signs or spend too much time reading and not looking at the road. I was so refreshed after driving hours daily, which should've been so taxing on my mind. Anyways the bombarding of colour and ads and marketing makes people so full they feel like they can't handle any more colour in their lives and I absolutely don't blame them. Making their daily environment not too stimulating also means children can be more creative (multiple studies show this, thus the huge market for open-ended toys, people without clear features, etc) and are going to focus better on a myriad of enriching things that could otherwise be considered boring compared to the highly stimulating things. Just as kids that cannot watch shows (lower effort) are likelier to read more books so can be expected for other things as well. I made particular effort to clean all the floor surfaces the baby would look at, handle all the cords and make the view from the floor a pleasant one. I remember as a child spending hours looking at my curtains and the shadows the curves made on the wall, inspecting hardwood floor patterns or the popcorn-like wall in church. There's loads of studies showing that boredom is super healthy for both children and adults alike. Some anti-procrastination methods actually recommend exactly that - getting oneself into such a bored state, they would rather do the necessary thing just for the sake of doing something. (A great study showed that students would rather get electrocuted, many even repeatedly than be bored in a room, same has been shown for animals such as birds and rodents.) Anyways I think "sad beige" has loads of supporting points and am still willing to make fun about it, since there is a truth to that (I make an effort to thrift pieces without logos, text or characters) and my guess is that the popularity of this term stems from beige and non-beige people alike. My husband laughed at her videos with me when we found them :D
Great video!! Yes, it's so strange how people who know nothing about child development insist that it's better to raise a child in visual chaos. Love all the research that went into this video.
Hi, I've been working with children for 10 years and want you to know: Too many colors can be overwhelming and overstimulating for young children. Stick to a few calming, muted colors that are easy on the eyes. Use color in moderation: While colors can be helpful for stimulating a toddler's imagination and creativity, it's important to use them in moderation.
Neutral colors and minimal toys is actually kinda good for little ones😊 sometimes kids cry from too many choices. A nice calm, color pallete and not too many toys to clean up/choose from can be good 😀 nice textures and warm tones with pops of color can be kinda good ?
TikTok is evil. No one ran around questioning colour before. 😂 my baby’s most reached for toys were brightly coloured. He didn’t even touch the neutral ones. As a toddler he loves wooden spoons and Tupperware containers.
hahahah I love this. Live and let live I say!
Nah these people always existed tiktok just gave them a microphone
Either way, because it’s an “aesthetic”, it has become costly. Fisher price and all the “loud toys” are expensive, but the “sad beige” or “natural wood” Montessori toys are now marketed at high prices too. For low budget families thrifted and second hand toys become the only affordable option and “aesthetics” become irrelevant.
If you have boys, rocks and sticks are often of greater interest than toys. lol With you on the thrift store. Thank God for thrift stores!
@@sarahlandry826sex of the baby does not matter. They all can play with dolls, sticks, rocks, kitchen etc
I think thrifting is the right option considering how kids grow up and these toys are worthless..
Thrifted toys are good
@@sarahlandry826delete your comment its embarrassing queen
If we didn’t have a colourful baby home I wouldn’t have known my sons favourite colour from such a young age…. I have nothing orange in my home due to disliking this colour myself but I didn’t let that stop me buying orange baby toys, he picks out his orange toys over all others & everywhere we go so I’m so glad he had this in his home through his toys and furniture bits 🥰
you're an awesome mom
My favourite colour was brown, but my Mum pushed me onto green. But when asked, I did explain that trees were brown, and I loved trees. They told me trees are green, but I said that was just the leaves which fall off every year, but the brown part lasts. And don't think at three I couldn't have said all that, I could and I did. And multiple decades later, I remember that. I thought it was horrid I couldn't choose my favourite colour myself.
But some beige moms (not just moms, but beige parents in general) take it too far. For example, there is one whose name I can’t remember, but she was spray painting her babies toys. It’s not seems controlling, but it also dangerous because those spray pants are not edible and babies put everything in their mouths.
Babies are the most curious species in the world, so turning their worlds into single tone monochromatic beige shades wouldn't trigger their sensory nerves to process anything. It almost feels like color blindness. I am not a medical person, but i am sure there are certain theories behind it. Make children's room colorful from the beige aesthetic home!
Did you even watch the video?
Nature is full of colours, if you look closer, you find the world is colourful. I think it depends on what you want to focus on when you look at the world. We are blessed to be able to see this colourful world, let’s embrace this. 🌺🌈💐🐞🐝🌲
Yeah, exactly, the natural world outside is full of pure and real colors (not dyed plastic or colors on a screen), if the inside is more neutral and calming, the child can experience contraction-expectation, intense bright bursts of colors outside and woody/uterus feel on the inside… that is key for a healthy life!
You did touch on it but I want to back up your point. I'm a early childhood educator and in my studies we learn a lot about the environment as the second teacher. There is a lot of studies and theories based on exactly this, Montessori and Reggio Emilia approach being the most wide known play theories and what a lot of play and exploration curriculums are based on in Canada. All of these theories ENCOURAGE a neutral, none stimulating environment that encourages play and indirectly guides behaviour. So much so that in the center I work at it is policy that the walls and furniture stay neutral with as many natural play items and lose parts as possible. We still have lots of colors in our toys and we set up so many play provocations based on or including colours so there is no lack either. When things are set up this way the room feels cleaner and brighter without being "steralized white", and it is much easier to get the kids to be relaxed and engaged in the calming environment. As you've mentioned it is much easier on the eyes and mind helping the children and even educators focus easier and stay on task without becoming over stimulated during the day.
It took one beige outfit on my toddler to realize nope I want some color!
Exactly, we as humans have raised babies for hundreds of years without tons of brightly colored toys in the house! Whether it’s completely sad beige or completely loud colors, any extreme isn’t great. Balance is important.
Im not fussed about how other mums want to display their home but I hate the excuse that for a place to be calm it has to be void of colour. I totally understand aesthetic. I hate fischer price toys too. (I still have them but hidden away). My home is colourful and each room has a specific colour scheme, but these colours aren’t all super saturated meaning I still have colours in my house and everything matches, so my child can enjoy colours but its not overwhelming. Little dutch toys for example are colourful while still being aesthetically pleasing. There are so many colourful yet CALMING interiors I just dont get why people just stick with a white beige nursery??? How is beige calming but a soft powder blue isnt?? Im an interior designer so I probably see colour theory differently though. I just wish more people would try it. Edit: there is also more to gender neutral than shades of cream!!! I also wont accept that as an answer to the beige trend lol.
Literally it's possible to have color and still have things be calming. I feel like these people are just lying about any color being "overstimulating" to them.
The thing that bothers me about them using the word overstimulating in particular is I know some of these beige aesthetic having people (not all of them, of course!) probably would not respect an actual autistic person who is overstimulated. If asked to meet their needs they'd just zap all color from a room and assume it was fine without accounting for things that are actually likely to lead to overstimulation, like texture, sound, or smell.
I also just freaking hate the beige/rich aesthetic lol, no matter who it's on
I think what's bad is not just just the lack of color, but it being paired with minimalist interior. Babies need stimulation, they need to learn colors and textures and shapes. Especially since babies can't see that we'll, a hospital like room full of white/greige shapes blending in together sounds super depressing. I remember having to lie in my bed as a child an having nothing to look at but the white wallpaper and an empty overhead window and it wasn't fun. But we at least had irregularly textured wallpaper.
Please give children's rooms some personality. I still struggle with sense of style and what I even like as an adult after barely getting to develop a personality as a child/teen.
Like she said, that's just common sense. The problem is that common sense isn't as clickable as one extreme or the other.
This!
From my experience (not a mom yet), the chaos comes from having too much stuff. The more stuff you have, the more you have to clean and tidy up.
My kids room is rainbow everywhere since their both girls, but the rest of the house is boring and neutral, it brings me peace.
Totally. My mom had the house in a fancy modern gothic style, I loved it but didn’t want it in my room, neither did my sister, so she let us have our own style for our own rooms.
I think that game experiment wasn't set up too well. There's a difference between colorful and totally garish and busy. That colorful background was a total mess. Why didn't they do the game with a one color background? Or maybe a rainbow?
Also, one of the most calming colors is a light shade of green. There's the green room in theatres where actors would go to relax prior to their shows. You can do relaxing but still have color.
I guess the thing I have with sad beige moms is that it seems like a lot of them are doing it for tiktok clout or insta views. It's on trend with rich people, so I think a lot of these people are copying that to emulate the rich people. It's been that way for centuries. The rich people adopt something and eventually it trickles down to the masses. Once it gets popular with the masses, the rich people do something different because they don't want to look like the masses. In a few years when the rich decide to do something different, the sad beige aesthetic will be a thing of the past.
If you wanna have a beige room, cool. But if you are showing off your beige room on your socials, then people will potentially judge you. And if these women become one of those moms that won't allow a certain toy because it doesn't fit the aesthetic, or won't hang up their kid's art work because it doesn't fit their aesthetic, well I'm sorry. I'm going to judge you cuz that kinda sucks. Little kids do have preferences. To ignore their preference in what is essentially their room because of your aesthetic is pretty crappy in my opinion.
Yeah as someone from a scientific household I can say that 'study' would never hold up as valid research. There needs to be a control group and much larger number of participants. The preferential setup would one group plays with the colorful toys on only a white background, one group only on a colored background, and one group both backgrounds. Maybe 50 kids per group and that's still a smaller study.
I can think of three other reasons parents lean into the “sad beige” aesthetic:
1. If you’re investing in expensive baby gear (clothes, bouncers, furniture, etc) and plan on having more than one child, picking items that are beige or in otherwise neutral colors, allows the items to be more flexible from child to child.
2. A lot of parents do not want to push their children into stereotypical boy or girl roles and looks so choosing neutral color pallets for clothes or toys supports those efforts.
3. This is related to the overstimulated/overwhelmed point. If your child’s clothes are all in a certain color scheme and all go together, it makes laundry and dressing your child much easier when you have enough other stuff going on.
Also maybe mums wanting to lean into the latest social media trends ?
I totally agree with these points. For me personally, I get overwhelmed with brightness. Not colour, but how neon and bright somethings are. I am neurodivergent mad this has always been a problem for me, loud noises and brightness. So especially as I adjusted to motherhood, this made sense. As my daughter grows, she gets to pick her own things and as it has all happened more slowly, easier for me too.
@@katielottie9445 But I’m sure you can find it in your oh so contrarian heart to forgive them this mortal sin?
@@tyturner7110 Sin is a very harsh way to look at it
@@nadjakari1752Well, guess what children's toys are made bright because it helps your children's find motor skills developed and helps your children's neurological development. And it's not about what you want. It's about what's best for your children. So that's simple.
I’m team color but also try to stay away from anything too overstimulating as far as toys. I’m also just team get outside!
same here! as someone who loves colorful nature patterns and wild florals, we also know that in nature, those colors and plants grow from a canvas of brown dirt. also, a lot of childrens toys are in artificially manufactured shades that we dont actually see in nature. rather than the plastic in these often overstimulating shades, i would much prefer to see all the colors outside in organisms - people, animals, places.
I FULLY lean into the colors of having a kid. I have a royal blue velvet couch, purple Indian window valances as curtains. Colorful lanterns, a purple nugget 🤣 I love color in my own personal life… also my five year old says his fave color is -- and lists 20 colors 🤣🤣🤣
You laid out exactly how I feel about this! I just also have to remember that a) sometimes I need to "give" a little and, despite my OCD and ADHD, let my kid enjoy things that don't "fit in my box" sometimes, and b) being able to minimize my overstimulation from loud colors, patterns, and toys is a privilege and I need to make sure I'm not trying to use my preferred aesthetic as a status symbol
I think there has to be a balance…. You can love and have neutrals to keep for each child if you’re having more than one and use neutrals to pair decorations and clothes easily. HOWEVER, color is important for kids to see!!! Color, texture, shapes, sounds, sights, tastes, etc. are all SO important for kids to experience to become good, productive, kind humans who contribute and elevate their communities. I also think some people choose neutrals with more muted colors because they feel overwhelmed/overstimulated.
However, I really hope they don’t start watching tv in black/white/sepia to go with their aesthetic
I agree on the need for balance as a guy who's more prone to wearing the same colors just so I don't have to think about that part of the day.
I want to at least have something like a color immersion space for my kids if we don't have a bunch of colorful toys constantly around. I'd also like to get them into music and have them start to think about colors in that way as well (chord voicings, scales, melodies, etc).
The main problem I see is that we're a society of one extreme or the other. Advocating for a balance for an entire video isn't as engaging as one specifically advocating for the maximum amount of stimulus or hardly any at all.
I’ve always been a beige person. My favorite color has always been white/ivory/cream. I remember as a kid thinking my baby cousin looked so adorable in a simple white onesie. I agree it lets the beauty of children shine through when they wear simple clothing. While I’m not a beige mom because almost all our clothes were hand me downs, I definitely don’t hate on them. Also my daughter plays way better with her simple toys than she does with the bright colors
I feel the exact same way about baby outfits! I like simple things that can be colourful, that enhance my baby's cuteness rather than overshadowing him
Actually, there have been studies going on about neutral colors affecting the whole world mental and neurological health. A study looked specifically to the electronic devices colors evolution and how that could relate to some of the anxiety and depression rise. It's not a conclusive study for everything regarding colors and mental and neurological health, but those are the first steps and they are promising. Of course a child doesn't need a neon ball with all the colors existing and some created by monkeys, but taking away colors from everything around them is in the other end of this problem.
Do you have some links for any of these studies? I'd be interested to see the parameters of these studies. For example the one in this video would never hold up in the scientific world because not only was it beyond way too small but there wasn't a control group. So if these are valid studies you're referring to, I'd be very interested in what they say
I just want to say, I'm a graphic designer and I've been loving your new thumbnails. Your content of course is amazing, and I really enjoy your vlogs, but I wanted to recognize the post creative work too!
I have lots of pastels and dashes of bright pinks and yellows in my nursery, but it's mostly natural colors. I refuse to get toys that make sound or have flashing lights because I can not emotionally handle it. Haha I do have bright wood stacking blocks, but those can easily be put away after play time. I also have baby instruments, where the sounds aren't so damn stressful. Also, sing to your babies! Babies love hearing your voice, even if you can't hold a note. Haha
I made my own toys as well! I had so much cardboard after my baby shower, so I cut some different shapes into the cardboard and glued different textured and colored fabrics strips behind the shapes for tummy time. Super cheap, super high contrast, easy to put away. I have a nice low light lamp as well as the regular room light, so I can adjust how bright I want it to be in there.
I don't know, there's a balance, but I refuse to have my house he overstimulating. I don't even have aTV. Haha .
To argue for a beige/neutral aesthetic by bringing up how children have "been raised since the dawn of time without color" discounts the recorded history of humans love affair with color. Throughout human history, humans have gone to very great lengths to obtain pigment to produce color for everything from cookware to clothing
This is super interesting! The talking videos are some of my favorites, I'm sure they take a lot of work and research as well!
Thank you! They’re my favourite to make, just take longer ☺️
I haven’t finished watching this video and I enjoy the discussion in the comments. I think some mothers just take it too far, Delilah Loeppky for example, you can say it’s her aesthetic and she is allowed to have preferences but seeing how much that is pushed onto her children who have their own personalities is pretty selfish. The clothes that are brown, tan, beige, white, that look like what a child during the Great Depression would wear, seems like it’s all her own doing, i don’t think a child would choose to wear something that boring.
People are so hung up with having no colour in their building blocks BUT the same people aren't concerned getting their lead painted loud toys from SHEIN.
This was very interesting to listen to. I’m not on tiktok so I’ve missed the entire discussion. When my kids we’re small there was more of a ”everything white” trend which I was totally on board with. Now I’m more for the colourful, cozy vibe think old english library. I never was a fan of all the ”loud” toys (in regards to both sound and look) but my kids for sure had them. It’s so interesting with the research you found, kids with less toys usually play more focused and for longer increments of time so I think it’s ’common sense’ that less color would provide more space for imagination.
But is it worth the $$$ to be a beige mom just to have an aesthetic?
Honestly the toys cost the same as the brighter ones. There’s so many affordable muted toned toys! But it’s not just for the aesthetic, personally, my aesthetic is more dark rich tones, but for my daughter I buy muted pastels and wooden things. When we go grocery shopping down the cereal isle my little girl doesn’t even respond to anyone or anything because she is so overstimulated by all the bright stuff going on around her. She literally sits there like a zombie, deadeyed😭😂 that’s why I stray away from brighter flashing loud toys, I want her to engage with her toys not be zombified by them. I feel like a lot of toys now a days are meant to just distract your baby for as long as possible, not actually get them to engage in open ended play.
@@WhimsicalCrochet I guess when I think of beige toys I think of lovevery and stuff which are obviously way more. I think it's still much harder to find clothes in the lower price range that aren't as brightly colored. You're also forgoing lots of hand me downs based on an aesthetic.
@@shannonbrown8918 I don't find this to be true at all. I'm a new mom and I bought(facebook marketplace) and received a lot of secondhand and hand me downs that were already neutral. Also places like carters and HM have tons of neutral clothes.
Yes, the Lovevery toys are expensive, but if I'm planning on having another child I don't have to rebuy those toys. And since most are wooden, they are durable. And if not - they could definitely be resold.
Loved this video. Im definitely a neutral mom. I love my natural earth tones in my home and for my children's things. I find it very calming. We have lived this way many years before it was a trend or "aesthetic" we believe in Montessori living and play. Wooden toys have always been pricey so mainly I thrift and support small toy shops when I can. Anyways love your channel been following for years.
Interesting video. Thank you for sharing! I personally don’t necessarily think that it matters whether or not kids are dressed colorful or play with colorful toys. A kids good development can’t be narrowed down to the colors they’re wearing or the beigy toys they’re playing with. There is much more to it. Although Montessori or Minimalism philosophy recommends toys out of natural materials (which are also very expensive) I don’t think that most of these aesthetic kids toys companies are selling beige products because of this natural aspect, but more because of the trend they become on social media, and because it sells very good. A lot of families rely on secondhand children gear or handmedowns, because of they’re low income or because aesthetic doesn’t really matter that much to them. As long as you raise your kids with good values, let them discover the world by spending a lot of time outside, loving them unconditionally, toys or clothes don’t really matter at the end of the day.
Also that mom who gets overstimulated by colorful toys? Sorry don’t really believe that. :)
I personally that mom was suffering from untreated postpartum depression. I've never seen anyone get so emotional over colors. It's sad but a lot of moms suffering from postpartum depression either don't realize it, or won't get treatment because it means they couldn't breastfeed their kids anymore. Child can thrive on formula or breastmilk, but it's a lot harder for a child to thrive with a mom who isn't well
I know that colors shouldn't be a big deal in parenting...but there are studies that show how important bright colors are to babys as their brains are developing.
You're study that you quoted with 15 participants is disgusting. I could have 15 participants that prove human beings only have one leg. 15 is barely enough to be considered a study. Also researched this study that you quoted. It's a Montessori study. Of course that study's going to agree with absolutely everything you said because that's all you do is vomit out their garbage. Shame on you for pushing that like that's a legitimate study
Edit there's also millions of studies out there that prove that study absolutely wrong. I put that study in to medicine stick. And it rated as poorly as I've ever seen. Any study rated. It's beyond bias. It's beyond Also, the accused the creators of making the data fit and leaving the data that didn't fit their thesis out. So it's the scientific equivalent of forcing a square peg into a round hole. Just because you want that square peg to fit in that round hole and you shove it in there doesn't mean there isn't huge gaps in the whole and in your research. Maybe you should have looked into it a little bit harder.
Also, I think it's really disingenuous of you to go on about how nature's muted. When absolutely every color we find is in nature. It's not just pops of color. Nature is color itself. The light is color. It's composed of all the colors we need to make every other color in the world.
Just going to add that. I'm not sure if you're aware. We don't live like our prehistoric ancestors did anymore. We have very, very very different lives. You can even just go back 100 years ago. I know people who are over 100 years old and we live extremely different than most people did back then. So to talk about how and the way we lived in prehistoric times like that's relevant at all to the way the world is. Today is just absurd.
Also, I looked up that stick as a toy. The absolute first toy ever found that isn't just something that someone could use their imagination for. Are brightly colored seashells. It's evident that they were used as toys for small children. You see the two key words in that sentence brightly and color. The fact of the matter is even back. Then we realized children need a color in their lives. Even in your example, well the part you just left out cuz it's convenience to your argument. Is they understood their children need a color to develop. Even in some of the earliest, civilizations like Mesopotamia children's toys are generally tend to be brightly colored. This is something that we've known and understood for well longer than we've ever understood most medical information. So you bringing up the fact that prehistoric children played with sticks is just I don't even know what to say to that. In fact, there is untouched tribes in the rainforest that have had zero contact with the outside world. And their children have bright and colorful toys made up of local ingredients. There is an indigenous tribe in South America that has had zero contact with the outside world and anthropologists have studied them through looking at their leftover campsites. And they find colorful children's toys there. So even in your example of prehistoric people, it doesn't make sense. It doesn't fit again with the square peg into the round hole. Anything to justify your choice. Look if you want your kids to be behaved then that's your right.
Bla bla bla bla... seriously? Couples should have some sort of cognitive test before being allowed to procreate. Like a parents license should really be a thing. Imagine how much grief would be spared for the poor parents and for the kids that wouldn't be born from clueless parents that can't even give up their fucking aesthetics for, what... 5 yeas?
"Do kids even need color?" Yes, they do! To this day my brother and I talk about the colors of our childhood
I miss being able to put my baby in anything I wanted. Now my 2 year old has a very strong preference as to what she wears and when 😂😭
I like colour, and babies like colour. It’s not true that they don’t like anything; kids seek out colourful things. Give a baby a choice of either beige stuff or colourful things, and they will go for the colourful things time after time. That said, it seems like a lot of these examples sound like mom’s with autism - colours are too loud, they’re screaming at them, it’s overstimulating.
You are hindering your child compared to other children, and no, the “color in regular living” arguments are NOT enough
I agree, I also think whatever you like is fine! I love color so I bought a lot of gender neutral bright colored outfits and things, but I prefer toys to be more neutral (in some ways) because we follow a Montessori household. We do a bit of both and it works for us. I’m not sure why moms judge each other so much, everyone likes different things (when it comes to aesthetic).
Seriously, and there’s so many reasons why non overstimulating toys benefit babies more, but all that set aside, even if it WAS just for the aesthetic, so what😂 the amount of things a baby needs is so overwhelming in and of itself, why not have it look nice🤷♀️ it’s not like people aren’t getting their kids toys because they take up room, they just don’t want to see toys everywhere and have a panic attack because of all the chaos lol.
The balance would be: bright toys, tranquil bedroom.
I prefer that option too ☺️
You can excuse sadbeige moms all you want, but I think putting someone with shitty eyesight (eg babies) into a contrastless beige house is not good, especially if said person is in a rapid vision development phase for like a year, especially if it's a pandemic and you're in a city where you can't go look at wildflowers. Like jeez, at least put some dark browns or dark greens in the room so the bqby has something to learn focusing on. At least those hanging things that move around above a playmat or bed.
I used to be so colorful in everyway till I had kids, and then life felt so busy and hectic I went sad beige mum calm my home down, now I'm trying to bring colour back in to give it some life but still keep it calm
Montessori =/= beige!
But
Montessori = wood and colours
Its selfish its crazy its a i need attention for myself its actually pathetic.
Very well rounded analysis, I’m proud to be semi-beige 🌾
As you should Mama, you are doing your best to love and nurture and raise a whole child and you deserve support, not people judging your decor.
i think ya all need some therapy. this void of colouor really isnt natural and like, what ya all going to do when they step outside and see colour? brown wasnt the only thing used in building houseing. yes it might have been a primary but red is a promint colour is alot of clays, yellow is promint when making roofing, green grass was also used as a roofing to, deep dark colours for diferent tree types. also growing up with a stick, can say it was horrible. much perferd toys like every other kid had at that age. plus artistic sense is formed at a young age. artists start young. what ya going to do if they wanna do art?
You completely missed the point of the video. She is not saying to restrict your kids color at all. Just basically saying it’s OK to have a neutral home setting because your kid will get color from many different places, such as books, playing outside, playgrounds, and school. Home is a place that is meant to be relaxing and when things are too busy it is hard to quiet your mind.
@@baileymadison9019 no i got the point and the point is to deprive enrichment to childern. colour dosent always mean noise and if you wanna deprive them of something then how will they learn to build coping skills to handle it when they are on thier own? instead of removing it, teach your kids how to properly handle it. since that is something as a parent you need to do instead of leaving it up to others to do. then again parents these days seem wuite fine to leave thier kids to be parented by others. this soft parenting is getting out of hand for the wrong reasons.
also kids might not be getting as much as you think from school. you are also depriving them from learning about colours and what if they want to paint or play with something or want something thier fav colour? this none colour busshit just contuines to show just how much of a accessory a child is to the parent instead of being a human being. if you truly had the kids best interest at hear here, then you would do research into colours and find what best one works. yellow is great for energy, dark blues and purples for sleep, whites will drive anyone insane since its a common colour used in mental hospitals....
@@baileymadison9019 also build a space for taht in your home but dont let your entire home be this. that sounds like a ward room trap of a home. and these basie mom's places look and feel like it. are they trying to keep a mental patient?
I get that we were always surrounded by neutral colours and they're more calming than rainbow colors. My own home is just a mixture of grey, black and wood because too much colour is over stimulating for me as well. But that one mom doesn't give their children FRUIT, because they're too colorful. There's nothing healthy about that, that's really just selfish and careless. Colourless environment? Great. Not much overstimulation for moms and the kids. But avoiding colourful food, even though it's healthy? That's just too much.
I think that was sarcasm
😂😂😂 I get SO stressed with clothes that has kittens, airplanes monsters, arrows, unicorns, dots, lines, circles etc etc on the same tshirt... we have som inbetween life here but Im happy I got kids after the coulor/shape era where the more the better was the cool way.
When can babies actually see color? I don't think it's right away.
They can see red
I was anti minimalism and anti beige trend. But I can agree that maxamalism can be another extreme. We need a good ratio of stimuli, you need a white background to see colours, and some combinations look nicer. You need a visual symphony not a mess. That why I believe in both complexity but enough space to see the wood from the trees. To let the little details stand out
"Beige trend" was about neutral colours and NATURAL materials. Beige moms spray paint even plastic... Where is the nature!?
I hate to say it but I think that mom in a breakdown you used as an example for why beige could be beneficial for parents had postpartum depression. Baby's and toddlers need colorful toys. Having a neutral nursery but allowing colored toys would be fine, but there needs to color. Also that "study" in scientific standards can't really be considered a real study. For a real scientific study there needs to be a control group and a large number of participants. Also, they were still playing with colorful toys it looked like. It was just that they were at least appearing to get overstimulated with color on color, but it wasn't a proper study so it shouldn't be cited. And yes I agree that kids with a good imagination can have fun with anything even a stick. However, having color in their lives more than in just food and nature helps nurture creativity and imagination. We need to look at things very critically. And honestly, what kind of parent puts their aesthetic above their child's best interests? It sounds like you have a decent amount of color in your childrens' lives which is great! But putting social media and aesthetic before a kid is seriously messed up and that's what most of these instagram and tiktok moms are doing
haha i loved this video! I'm like you a good mix. I personally love all the biege colors. Thats my style and our houses style. But for my kids I like the neutral style because its easier to dress them. Since I'm more minimal it means I can dress them in not a lot of different clothes because they all match with each other. I also definitly rhink color could be too crazy and stress me out so I don't want my children to be stressed because of all the craziness.
The problem here is that the millennial mom is, on average, the mom that has done the most research into child development of all the moms, leaning about gentle parenting, natural materials and minimal toy exposure to avoid overstimulation.
Then come childless angry gen z and with their limited memories of childhood, decide to sh*t all over it because they don't get it. Wait 10 years and they'll all be b&w moms of whatever the version will be by then.
What's the alternative? Colourful plastic cr*p? No thanks.
90s kids will remember how crazy their childhood was, full of clutter and plastic and trash. We want better for our children.
I know I'm late to this video (just got it recommended), but I think your comment misses the nuance of reality.
1. This isn't a generation war.
2. The counter argument to beige moms isn't everything hyper colourful (PS late 90s and early 2000s "kids" that are now adults - and are a part of Gen Z - also grew up with hideously bright toys), but a middle ground. All shades of colours have a place in stimulating creativity, but of course in moderation.
As a 90's kid I can say my childhood did not include clutter plastic and trash! I loved getting to pick out what color I wanted my new toy to be. What's next, are you only going to buy your child the skintone colored crayons and markers? Color helps develop and breed creativity and imagination. Plus the most calming color isn't white or beige it's a shade of green! Also, you're into natural, so are you okay with your kid being exposed to lead and arsenic? Those are some of the most natural things around. You can't get more natural than elements on the periodic table!
@@Margot_Lazarus You're projecting, my dear. My home is quite colourful, but I get why some would want to live in calmer looking homes. When you have a small baby you crave calm, and neutral colours feel calmer to many people. Besides, kids see colour everywhere they go, they're not locked up in a beige room with no windows, they are outside and the world is colourful. It's ok for mama to design her home more minimally if that helps her relax after a long day of taking care of her baby.
I loved this video. Thanks for the research, Ashley. Super interesting. We're more of the medium beige variety here too. That mom who talked about being overstimulated by too many colorful and loud toys was speaking to me! ❤
As somebody who looks at research studies in my job, this is not a well researched study. In fact, that study that she quoted the one actual scientific study she quoted is highly unethical. And I don't mean that ethical like they hurt the children or something like that. I mean scientifically and ethical. 15 preschoolers is not a study. 1500 maybe but 15. No. In fact, if you put that into medical stick that study it comes up as highly questionable. They speak of the fact that the designers of the study had an upcoming mind and made the data fit. It's the scientific equivalent of taking a square peg and shoving it into a round hole. Sure you can get it to fit but there's going to be gaps both in the whole and in your research. Especially because the study has never been able to been independently replicated when done by more reputable researchers. This research team was funded by an organization who puts his this lifestyle. Who makes money selling this lifestyle to mothers. So of course they're going to get that at approve. This big business products work. That's what they were hired for. It's like a pastry chef making pastries. If you came out with spaghetti, you'd be mad at your pastry chef.
Also, as far as nature being muted, that's ridiculous. Absolutely every color on the planet comes from nature. Even neons. Have you ever seen tropical fish or birds. And as far as going on about how prehistoric children, while I'm not sure if you know this, we don't live like our prehistoric ancestors. In fact, some of the earliest civilizations children's toys were brightly colored. Mesopotamia. In fact, they have found tons of children's toys and they're all brightly colored. Of course, over the thousands of years they've been laying in the dirt. They have become muted but with technology we can recreate the original shade and it's always very, very vibrant. So even back in earliest civilization we knew children need it bright toys. In fact, one of the earliest forms of children's toys ever to be found were brightly colored seashells. So even in her examples with just a little bit more, looking for an example that maybe doesn't really fit her faces. You find thousands of examples that don't fit. Look you can give a kid a cardboard box and they can make it a toy. It doesn't make it the original toy.
I have to add an edit. Our prehistoric ancestors grow up in the grasslands of Africa. The grasslands are the reason for our bipedalism which freed up our hands which gave us a thumbs which gave us our big brains. So really the first original toy would have been bright green grass.
Once my son is old enough to have interests he can have whatever graphic tees he wants, I just think it's silly to have baby's wearing words and symbols that they don't even understand lol
I personally say do whatever works for you. I just think having a beige house is depressing I like colors it makes me feel happy and uplifted. Also, how are they keeping that stuff clean is my question because kids are gross and nasty and they get things dirty, and all that beige how do they keep it clean?
I definitely am not a sad beige mom lol! Not into obnoxious amounts of color either. But I find the aesthetic kinda boring to look at, and tan clothes don't make me feel pretty without a pop of color. Pretty colors make me happy. ☺️
The stick! 😂🥰
I love this video so much
Got to warn you
When i was a child, my mom tried to dress me elegantly, in calm colors, limited bright and shiny things.
Now, as an adult woman, I compensate for this as much as possible and dress like a parrot :)
I’m really hoping someone will talk about the lack of blue or ‘boy gendered’ colored things available for newborns. Everything comes in blush pink and grey- That’s it. I want navy! I want ocean tones. I want oranges and yellows and forest greens. Obviously baby doesn’t care and gender roles are dumb, but I still love blue and orange for my boy. But it’s like the companies only cater to girls or gender neutral options, maybe as a lack of appreciation for men/boys and it’s so frustrating as a boy mom (I mean mom of a boy, not a crazy pick me)
Lets make things more simple. No toys. Baki from Baki the Grappler teaches us that the perfect human's sole purpose in life is to fight without any fear of death. No objects are needed. Baki lives in a vandalized house. No beauty needed.
Everything is now pink per my daughters preference....
The room we rent is mustard color w red curtains. The floor is dark brown concrete. So there are all these contrastong colors that make my brain scramble.
I have a lot of respect for beige moms. I’m not organized enough to be a beige mom. Give me all the colors and patterns, because kids are messy and they hide the stains. 😅
I really love your commentaries, you talk about issues I actually care about. 💗💗
My answer to the beige mom saying she needs less loud toys so she can parent better cuz she isn’t as “overstimulated,” get over it. You’re an adult just parent better.
love this video, I think the only topic you didn't cover (which is totally fine I just want to bring it up) is how the beige mom (whether it be sad or not), is also kind of a status symbol, at least it has been in my experience. If you see a mom and she is pushing a beige or black high end stroller, kids are in neutral clothes, sucking on pacifiers without polka dots and animal logos, holding backpacks without characters on them: you know she has some money because those things cost! In my experience I want to have the less stimulating colors and clothes but everywhere I go those options are almost always the most expensive and I just can't afford it. Of course I am generalizing but I am curious how others feel. I feel sometimes embarrassed and like my lack of disposable income is on display when I have the dinosaur stroller I thrifted and character tshirts that were hand me downs.
In conclusion, it costs to be a sad beige mom sometimes Lol. And I wonder if some of the backlash they face is coming from others' bitterness that they can't afford the montessori/neutral stuff...
I love this point for the discussion!!
I realize now, that in my head, the box for these "beige" (I think in my head they're the "natural") moms is actually not so much about the aesthetic, even though now rich people have adopted this aesthetic but about the parenting style, methods, approach, stimulation, values etc etc.
I think it's great when moms are able to be environmentally conscious and use hand me downs or thrifted items (since there's already SO much children stuff on this planet) and I think I discern a mom dressed in clothes that might not be in style but are very functional with kids in hand-me-downs with characters, sparkles and stuff based on her demeanor and the children's demeanor. I strongly take into consideration the materials of the pieces, and it also often shows that the pieces that look purchased new are usually natural materials like linen, cotton etc, while the rich beige folk are out and about with fancy beige items made out of polyester, things from fast fashion brands, indoor decor that is focused on trendyness etc. The "natural" or more conscious moms are interacting patiently and with curiosity and empathy towards their kids even as they play with multicoloured cheap plastic toys they got, the things are in order and are kept in a functional non-excessive manner. While the rich beige aesthetic people will have loads of things, the trendier the better, their kids often have access to electronics, the toys are not organized nor focused on function and development or desires of the child, they are either for looks, or dumped into big boxes and in an overstimulating mess of loose (albeit "beige") parts etc etc.
So while there is an aspect of moms who might adopt the beige aesthetic, I have a strong distinction between beige natural moms, beige trendy moms, and moms who are beige natural but aren't focusing their time and values (for example in the form of working) on acquiring all of their gear in beige or trendier versions. But these moms are also clearly distinct from the clueless moms (for lack of better term) that have loads of things dumped and mixed in boxes, but the things aren't beige but colourful. The mindful "poor" beige moms are thoughtful and each thing they own but also physically do and say looks deliberate and it clearly delineates them from the alternatives.
TL;DR worry not, being tight on money is impractical and can be uncomfortable in today's society where it feels like safe non-toxic products are only for the rich, the reality is that aside poverty so bad that the child starves and is strongly nutrient defficient, everything else about your parenting will have a much more lasting impact on both their mental AND physical wellbeing.
I disagree greatly with you. There’s always plain tshirts, you don’t HAVE to buy character tshirts. Even with hand me downs and thrifting we have been able to get simple, basics that aren’t crazy colors nor character.
You don’t have to have very expensive items either. In fact the less things you have the better for growing minds and for encouraging imaginative play.
We have a lot of things and as we are removing our very nice, very visually pleasing toys, my kids are more calm.
Dark colors aren’t loud😭 This entire video is “let me justify why I’m a sad beige mom”
By the way,my here are way more studies about colors if you don't want to be bias
Great video, even better ending sentence😅 TikTok is going to ruin us all
Thank you 😄
Crazy patterns will never cover up the smile of your baby, soooo nope, this argument is not for me ;). Too boring all these "neutral" colours, when our nature is so gorgeous and colorful. I guess it depends on where you are living. For example, in India, especially Goa, or Bali a lot of colorful fuits, green land, ocean and seas, sunsets, and sunrises-everything is full of life. Sad Beige moms are so depressingly boring. If its just a sand without colorful seaweed and ocean aquamarine, don't call me on this party 😅
Rare is the parent that does not piss me off!
It’s just a fashion trend?
As long as the toy is educational its all that matters
Personally will not be a beige mom however I do not want loud electronic toys in my home. They are over stimulating.
I don't know if this has any relevance, but I used to work at a daycare looking after children between ages 1-3 years, and any "colourful" activity that we would put infront of the children (ie. play-doh), they would only be focused for a short amount of time, but get a stick (like you had mentioned) and their attention could've been had for hours. The children were more engaged playing with leaves, sand, mud, and cardboard than colour sorting blocks, and though our 'toys' were natural resources, I wouldn't consider us a 'sad beige' daycare. They still saw colour in the clothes they put on while playing dress up, the books we would read with them, the plates they ate off of when it was snack time, and of course, greenery when exploring the outside. There were numerous articles at one point that said, children found a lot of colour overstimulating and that it didn't actually benefit their life any more than natural colours. However, using colour was a great way to teach children certain things. I.e using colour to resemble moods; blue being sad, yellow being happy, etc. Personally, I think there should be a happy medium with it all. I wouldn't go as far as only providing natural resources for my kids or dressing them in only beige, but I would want them to experience both worlds. There are options to have the beige, and the colour without it being overstimulating or OTT.
Interesting video, even for someone who doesn't yet have children.
I agree and think personally my happy medium is colourful but "natural" tones, mostly blues, greens, and warm neutrals with pops of brighter warm colours that feel like glimpses of birds, flowers, or fruit amongst the leaves 😋
I think it’s more a personality preference,
I’m a quiet and calm person and I prefer clean lines in a home with 2-3 pops of bright colour, colour energizes me and helps me feel more bubbly,
For a more naturally energetic and loud personality it would make sense for them to want to live in a subdued environment of browns/beiges etc.
I mostly just focus on furniture being one color, most of my furniture is black or coffee brown. And the accent things are black, white, or grey, then each room has its own accent colors. Like the bathroom has a light aqua color with the black bathroom furniture. In the livingroom the furniture is black but most of my todlers toys are there in a grey basket and a black shelf full of colorful toys and the accent pillows on my couches are colorful so it doesnt look chaotic. All the house walls are beige or white so there's no over stimulation. I personally need contrast to feel like things aren't overwhelming or too dull and depressing. So having dark furniture helps me be more organized not feel like everything looks the same. Then if I want to add a bit of color I can add a bit and make it match throughout the room so it's not overwhelming and only hints of color rather than a whole bunch of chaos. I'm also a creative so I need my home to feel artistic but not cluttered and chaotic.
I love this video. I dont even think it needs to go even as far back as hunter-gatherer times. Early twentieth century toys and further back were not bright primary colours. Bedrooms in normal households were rarely decorated to the child's tastes. Many of these things are recent and, due to clever marketing, people really believe that rainbow colours plastered everywhere is child-centred. My SD goes to a nursery that has beige or muted colours which, research has shown, has a big impact on mood and settling in.
It's just a trend just like everything else. Makeup, clothing, to decor. We're followers and gravitate to what's popular. But I also agree to brightly colored items can be over stimulating or is it just to having too many items. Just a phase. See what the trend will be like a few years from now🤣🤣🤣
Thank you for this perspective. I have a family member I always judged for her beige choices. Now I get it. She is very anxious and healing from a rough childhood so her choices make a lot more sense to me now
It's always interesting to me that if you look up any toy, and then you look up a "neutral" color version, the neutral version costs 2x as much.
I feel ideally 1 colour atleast should be in the mix with the neutrals.
For me I like Blues, Black, White, Greys. Not a fan of Beige, cream or Brown personally.
Actually my parenting "style" was (s)low stimulation parenting. I specifically desired something very calming, and while pops of colour are absolutely a yes, I preder big solid coloured pieces, for both, myself and my child. If I am overstimulated why should my child not be?
Whenever I see physiotherapists in their videos use the flashiest toys to get the children's attention (and usually to great success) I always think that they're selfishly focusing on the sole aspect of physical capabilities of the child and disregarding his mental calmness, attention etc.
Bright colours are loud in our brains because poisonous animals (and even some mushrooms etc) are brightly coloured to warn us away from them, so we are born to view them as a threat. Just as you will notice a 90° angle in the wild or a piece of plastic, or garbage and it will stick out to you, because it's unnatural, out of place and poses a risk.
So while yes, it benefits the moms and the whole family, I think it also greatly benefits the kids, and had this in mind. Playing on occasion with loud toys isn't banned but it is not something I will actively introduce into their space.
The whole greige trend is around so much now because people are running away from colour and want at least a single calm space to let their eyes and brains rest. Apparently, the average American sees 4,000 to 10,000 ads daily.
We recently had a trip to a more remote part of one country with very little billboards and I realized that I feel much calmer, and SAFER about my driving. Since you have to follow the signs, you have to keep looking at them, and each time there's an add, you have to exert mental effort to discern "oh it's just an add, I can look back" but then are likelier to miss relevant traffic signs or spend too much time reading and not looking at the road. I was so refreshed after driving hours daily, which should've been so taxing on my mind.
Anyways the bombarding of colour and ads and marketing makes people so full they feel like they can't handle any more colour in their lives and I absolutely don't blame them. Making their daily environment not too stimulating also means children can be more creative (multiple studies show this, thus the huge market for open-ended toys, people without clear features, etc) and are going to focus better on a myriad of enriching things that could otherwise be considered boring compared to the highly stimulating things.
Just as kids that cannot watch shows (lower effort) are likelier to read more books so can be expected for other things as well.
I made particular effort to clean all the floor surfaces the baby would look at, handle all the cords and make the view from the floor a pleasant one. I remember as a child spending hours looking at my curtains and the shadows the curves made on the wall, inspecting hardwood floor patterns or the popcorn-like wall in church.
There's loads of studies showing that boredom is super healthy for both children and adults alike. Some anti-procrastination methods actually recommend exactly that - getting oneself into such a bored state, they would rather do the necessary thing just for the sake of doing something. (A great study showed that students would rather get electrocuted, many even repeatedly than be bored in a room, same has been shown for animals such as birds and rodents.)
Anyways I think "sad beige" has loads of supporting points and am still willing to make fun about it, since there is a truth to that (I make an effort to thrift pieces without logos, text or characters) and my guess is that the popularity of this term stems from beige and non-beige people alike. My husband laughed at her videos with me when we found them :D
I didn't know that peacock are generously poisonous 😅
I prefer color the beige is plain
There was not fisher price when I was a child, I am 57 and everything was colorful
Raising childs😂😂😂😂😂
I think, like anything else, balance is the best way to approach this.
bunch of crock
I am so thankful for your mid way approach. I live the same.
Imagine these kids 20 years from now talking, remember that beige Barbie? Remember that beige ball? Remember that beige rubber duck?
I wonder if they're allowed normal crayons or if they're only allowed to play with the skin tone ones lol
I’m medium beige as well! I love your take on this and appreciate all the research put into it! 👏🏽
The end 🤣👏🏽 love this video so much and the last sentence hits the nail on the head.
Never heard of this.
Great video!! Yes, it's so strange how people who know nothing about child development insist that it's better to raise a child in visual chaos. Love all the research that went into this video.
Visual chaos meaning normal everyday things
Blesave babe
dude i can see the evilness in her eyes! This mother should've NEVER became a mom . I pray for her kids
Hi, I've been working with children for 10 years and want you to know: Too many colors can be overwhelming and overstimulating for young children. Stick to a few calming, muted colors that are easy on the eyes. Use color in moderation: While colors can be helpful for stimulating a toddler's imagination and creativity, it's important to use them in moderation.
Neutral colors and minimal toys is actually kinda good for little ones😊 sometimes kids cry from too many choices.
A nice calm, color pallete and not too many toys to clean up/choose from can be good 😀 nice textures and warm tones with pops of color can be kinda good ?
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