I like beige, and soft colors. I assumed that my babe, unaccustomed to the punch-in-the-face shades of baby toys would also appreciate a muted color scheme, if only by default. So when I found an activity gym at PBK that wasn’t a color dump, I knew we had to have it. Isn’t it cute. If you are in your 30s it is definitely the best option. Julia will even lay there for five minutes or so and you only have to restart the music every 60 seconds. Thank goodness for this elegant-by-comparison toy.

A friend has the stereotypical baby playmat with bold colors, lights, loud music and overdone attachments. Isn’t it enough that a toy rattles, but does it have to also have a spinning link, and be six different colors?

My easily-over-stimulated Julia tried it out around three months old. I sat in the floor beside her and chatted with my friend for 30 minutes. Julia was in heaven. When the 20 minute light and sound show ended, she made a few noises and we restarted the activity gym. She enjoyed each toy on her own and smiled the whole time. I offered my friend a blank check for whole thing, to which she adamantly said no and politely directed me to several places that have them. It is half the price of the one from PBK.

Perhaps homes need both: One to stimulate creativity and one for those times you really need a quiet child. Either way, I know what I’ll be asking for on my birthday. Goodbye Kate Spade accessory. I’m going to need a Fisher-Price Jungle Gym to feel baby-trendy this season!