Babies Can Be Minimalists Too

Hi. I'm Beans. I've been on this planet for just about 18 months now. I am a baby, and I am a minimalist. I'm here to tell you my minimalism story.

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Of course my name isn't really Beans. In fact, my name in its entirety has 21 characters in it. It will probably take me quite a while to learn how to spell it, especially because there's an instance of double-vowels in there somewhere. Or so I'm told.

As you may have noticed, I am quite verbose for a baby. Even though I'm not saying any "real" words yet, I have a waterfall of prose running through my head at all times. Plus, why speak when I can get exactly what I want by pointing, shrieking, crying, and shouting?

I digress.

Please feel free to skip around this entry as you see fit, if you don't want to read through the post in its entirety. In the following paragraphs, I'll discuss what it's like for me as a minimalist baby. I'll show you my capsule wardrobe, discuss my relationship with screen time, and talk about my passions. You'll also see my minimal toy collection that I'm still in the process of paring down. (We're all a work in progress, aren't we?)

I'll even share how I want to improve as a minimalist baby.

How I Got Into Minimalism

I'd like to tell you how I had a rough infanthood, and that I made the conscious decision to enter into minimalism to help me focus on what's most important in life.

But let's be frank.

I'm a minimalist baby because Mom is a minimalist grownup. I don't have much of a choice.

But I've learned to embrace it (because I don't have much of a choice), as it's shown me how to appreciate relationships and experiences over material possessions (because I don't have much of a choice).

Let me be clear: I'm not bitter about my foray into minimalism. I'm very grateful. It's undecided if I'll stick with the principles of minimalism as I continue to grow older. But hey, I love Mom, and it's enjoyable for me when I can make her happy.

My Capsule Wardrobe

I'm told that capsule wardrobes are the cool thing now, so I wanted to share mine with you.

By the way, a capsule wardrobe is a set of clothes that is small. Minimal, if you will. According to the internet, a capsule wardrobe is a term created by Susie Faux, meaning "a collection of a few essential items of clothing that don't go out of fashion, such as skirts, trousers, and coats, which can then be augmented with seasonal pieces".

While my wardrobe may not be as pared down as it could be, I find that I need extra pants and shirts because I shit myself sometimes through my diaper. Such is life.

I own four pairs of pants: two sweatpants in varying shades of grey (because grey screams minimalism, am I right?). I have one pair of dark blue sweatpants, and one pair of hipster-looking striped khakis for when I want to dress up. Don't you wish you lived in sweatpants 75% of the time?

Beans stack of minimalist sweatpants for babies

I do have a decent amount of shirts. At the time of writing this article, I'm yearning to weed through my shirts and get rid of the ones that don't bring me happiness. There are a few shirts that pinch the tops of my doughy arms (I've regretfully been skipping my push-ups lately). And some other shirts are pastel colors with juvenile animals embroidered on the chest. I'm not 100% confident when I wear these shirts, and they need to go into the donate pile soon.

I have a hoodie for those crisp fall days.

I have one pair of sneakers. They're black, because black is cool for minimalist babies.

I'm embarrassed to share this, but I have a lot of socks. I love them and have no plans on minimizing my sock collection. It is what it is.

My Minimal Toy Collection

As surprising as it may sound, as a toddler I find I don't need very many toys. I do have a constantly growing assortment of toys, but I'm gravitated towards my tried-and-true favorites.

Here's where I keep my toys. They hide away nicely in my IKEA Expedit in my room.

I have a set of these blocks that go into this red box. Mom keeps trying to get me to put the blocks through the holes in the box's yellow lid. I keep trying to tell her that it's easier to insert the blocks in the absence of the yellow lid. But I've put the blocks through the yellow lid a couple of times and Mom got really excited, so I appease her from time to time.

Grandma and Grandpa bought me a red shopping cart. This is another favorite of mine. I can push it all throughout the house and put stuff in it. And take stuff out of it. And put stuff back in it.

Finally, my absolute favorite toy is my ball. I call him Ball. He's squishy and soft. However, I'm not overly attached to Ball. He brings me happiness when he's around, and I frequently snuggle with him at night, but I can do without.

Overall, Mom seems to push analog toys on me. I'm innately drawn to the toys that light up and sing to me. She's explained to me that analog toys are better for my imagination or something. I don't really understand it yet. She says I'll get it later in life.

My Relationship with Screen Time

I have a vague recollection of playing a mind-numbing game on Mom's iPad when I was much younger. But now that I'm older, I'm really trying to limit my screen time.

I don't watch any TV except when it's on in the background at daycare.

I don't play any games on Mom's iPhone.

Really, the only time I allow myself some quality screen time is when Mom and I look at photos and videos of myself. I'm just so handsome and funny... I can't pull myself away from it.

Oh, and sometimes I steal Mom's phone to talk to Siri. Her and I have frequent deep, existential conversations. We're pals.

My Passions

As you might be able to tell, I do my best to prioritize time with loved ones. I'm only awake for about 10 hours a day, so it's important to me to spend time with people I care about.

I like going out into nature. I feel at peace.

Picnics and hikes are my favorite. I truly get a sense of freedom and wholeness when I'm outside.

Otherwise, I enjoy frequent happy hours. And brunch. Dining out is a pleasure of mine. I probably do it too often, but Mom's friends are cool. Plus, people always stop to say hi and tell me how cute I am.

No matter what I'm doing, my true passions are for the simple pleasures in life. This is really corny, but I just love to laugh and get hugs. And eat french fries and waffles.

Oh, and dance parties.

How I Want To Improve as a Minimalist Baby

I mentioned this before, but it's true: we're all works in progress. I try to incorporate minimalism whenever I can, because it allows me to focus on relationships and experiences that add value to my life. But there's always room for improvement.

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