You might think this is another one of my judgmental rants in the same vein as my letters to Katie Holmes, Mariah Carey and Rachel Zoe. Quite the contrary. This is all admiration and real estate envy.
—————————
Dear Beyonce,
I just read reports that you are building a 2200 square foot nursery for your as yet unborn baby. Let me be the first to congratulate you on this unbelieveably fabulous parenting choice! You have always been a trailblazer in music, dance and fashion so I guess it should come as no surprise that you will be a trailblazer in the cutthroat world of CELEBRITY PARENTHOOD PREPAREDNESS as well.
First of all, I think it is beyond cool that you bucked the current trend of trying to out-do each other in dollar amounts. While Rachel Zoe brags about Skyler’s $70,000 closet and Mariah Carey waxes on about Monroe and Morrocan’s $200,000 nursery, you made the trendsetting decision to talk square footage! Goddamnit woman— even at 4(?) months pregnant, you are cutting edge.
Secondly, clearly you have a wealth of maternal advisors who helped you come to this brilliant real estate decision. These advisors must know that a) babies can be very loud particularly when they are crying, b) babies accumulate outlandish amounts of stuff c) babies grow and d) real estate prices in Manhattan only go up.
What better way to fend off all of the above than with copious amounts of baby-only delegated space?
I imagine the deafening silence of 2200 square feet can hide even the most piercing of screams. I’m not even sure a monitoring device would work from such a distance. So you will be all but guaranteed night after night of blissfully sweet beauty sleep! If you like, you can forget the baby is there altogether and go out to dinner! I don’t think anybody would notice the difference. After all, what’s another mile or so between family?
Most parents I know have baby-related paraphrenalia cluttering every inch of their apartment. Diapers, toys, books, stuffed animals, strollers, tubes and tubes of A&D ointment, etc. It’s enough to drive even the sanest of mothers mad. So how awesome for you that none of these things will interfere with your life AT ALL!
I mean, you don’t even have to take the baby out of the nursery until they’re around eighteen and want to go out on their own. Then just wall off the nursery’s entrance from the rest of the apartment and VOILA! Instant pied de terre.
As for now, I’m sure a swing set, a private branch of Kidville and a wing of the Children’s Museum can all be set up within the space provided.
Which leads me to a small request. Perhaps you could section off a bit of the nursery for my daughter, Mazzy? She’s very cute and nobody would even notice she was there. And like Sesame Street Live and giraffes at the zoo, I would LOVE to see her reaction to a such a large piece of real estate in Manhattan.
Particulary since our entire apartment could fit within your baby’s room.
Here’s a diagram done to scale:
I have an idea! Maybe you could set up the world’s first baby hotel in there! I’m sure tons of Manhattan parents would seize the opportunity to temporarily regain their precious office and storage space back from their children. So innovative!
I am not criticizing, Beyonce. I am merely beyond jealous of your space and amenities. If we had the means, we would give Mazzy her own island and visit only when we needed a snuggle. Then we could finally get aorund to watching a Breaking Bad marathon. It takes forever when your television is within 10 ft. of your child at all times.
Best of luck to you, your fetus and your outrageously large playroom!
Sincerely,
Mommy Shorts
Oh my. Mariah named her babies Monroe and Morrocan?
She was just worried about where she was going to have the kid’s birthday parties without having to knock out a tour or two.
wow.
I get annoyed at the 12 feet I have to walk. She best have a fit baby nurse…a Kenyan perhaps. That is endurance territory.
My family of four live in an 1100 square foot apartment. Cannot imagine double that space for one small child. Can’t. Imagine.
I am just a little envious, actually…
That baby will have a nursery larger than my apartment too. I think Mazzy and her entire preschool class can camp out there unnoticed. And the moms too.
Holy majoly. I dream of 2200 SF…and how long it would take to sweep and mop the floor. My 2 bedroom house is a cozy 624 SF. Top THAT, Beyonce. Or should I say, Beyonce’s cleaning staff.
I think that pretty much sums up all that is wrong in this world.
my entire house isn’t even that big. we’re a family of 5.
I think love grows best in small spaces, where it surrounds you.
Beyonce and Jay-Z have worked hard for their money and they deserve to give their child the lavish life style they never had as children. If you don’t think Beyonce is going to be a great mom clearly you don’t know much about her.
I could send my toddler over to share some of the nursery space too. She would be great at helping.
I honestly think Jay-Z and Beyonce are two of the most brilliant entertainers and business people on earth and there is no question that they deserve everything they have. And I do not pretend to know how Beyonce will fare as a mother. I just think it’s hilarious that their baby will essentially have it’s own apartment. One twice the size of mine!
We did just under 700 square feet with four of us for over a year (before that it was three of us), and truthfully, sometimes I miss it. Most times I’m grateful for a playroom (that used to be the size of my bedroom) that I can just leave in disarray and ignore after the kids are in bed.
There’s no way she is only four months pregnant! It’s her first and she is in great shape. I would have guessed seven from that photo above – and she looks amazing!
OMG… you are good. Perhaps you can send them a link to Mazzy’s step and repeat as well as her bear hug videos. It will be obvious Mazzy can serve as the unborn baby’s acting and red carpet coach. Really, you should charge them for her consulting; she’s a born-and-bred Manhattan toddler that can teach that unborn baby a thing or two about NYC playground rules!
My whole house is smaller than that! And 6 of us live here. I don’t even know what I would do with all that space! What the heck are babies going to do with all that space?
This nursery has more square footage than my HOUSE. And is she really pregnant? That rumor’s been laid to rest?
This family of 4, plus a dog, makes do with 1300 sf. Hmm…
We own a home in the suburbs that is less than 2200 sq ft. Fuck Beyonce.
I’m a little tired today, sorry for the profanity. My children (both babies) sleep just down the hall.
I think that’s great planning of her. If I had a 2200sf room for MY kids, I would have insulated that bad boy with 10′ thick soundproofing material so no one anywhere else in the apartment can wake that kid up, and when it’s time for baby to Cry It Out, they won’t hear a peep. They can just watch baby with Mute on via some fancy digital video monitoring system.
PS: We had 4 of us in a 2br condo half the size of BabyBZ’s nursery. This amuses me to no end.
Take this with a grain of salt as my entire 3 story, 3 bedroom house is less than 2200 square feet, but I think its excessive. Surely doesn’t speak to anyones skills, but really?
LMAO I seriously just spit out my drink reading this. WTG Beyonce, I had to get rid of half of my furniture and belongings just to accommodate the junk that comes along with my 4 yr old and 8 week old daughters and I live in a 2 story 3 bedroom house I think this baby’s room may be half the size of my house that 4 people live in. :/
Walking 2200 sq feet to get to your baby when it’s crying in the middle of the night would be a bitch. Until I remembered that she’ll probably also have about 10 around-clock-nannies just for that 1 kid.
This is such a funny post! I think celebrities have to compete with each other, not regular people, obviously!
Seriously that is insane! What is she possibly thinking of doing with all that space?! The 3 of us live in 950 square feet, gotta love typical manhattan living!
Gina….hilarious!
She is clearly just thinking of all the exercise it will give her!
We had our first baby in a cozy 650 sf condo in Boston. It was small enough that 7 years ago it was cheaper to buy an expensive plasma TV for the wall than it was to delgeate some sf to a TV stand. Besides, without the TV on the wall, where would we have put the crib?
I kid. We had a one + bedroom. Know those? It’s when there’s a glorified closet with a window and a cubby hole and realtors can call it a “plus” because calling it a real second bedroom is buying themselves a one-way ticket to the circle of hell reserved for real estate fibbers.
In related news, my current suburban home is only slightly larger than Beyonce’s nursery. But a star got to do what a star got to do. Amirtie, B?
I’m imagining your average elementary school cafeteria – and a tiny crib tucked in one corner, small pitiful wails echoing off the walls. What do you put in a room that size? A lap pool?
OK, so 2200 sq.ft. is only slightly smaller than my house (not counting the basement). So basically, I’m trying to imagine a baby’s room that’s as big as my house.
Nope… just can’t do it.
LMAO – soundproofing! And doors that only open inward, and only have hardware on the outside…
Hmmm, baby living in the space we use for 5 people, a dog, a cat and several fish. Interesting. I’ll bet once she starts stumbling around in the dark at 2 am with dripping boobs and a hungry baby that sounds like a fire alarm shrieking, she’ll decide it’s easier to put the crib in her room for a while. LOL
Is it corny of me to say I hope Beyonce and Jay-Z spend as much time and effort raising their children to be philanthropic and generous as they do making sure they’ll be generously housed?
I know. Probably corny.
And they probably do donate a lot of money to charities and good causes.
I hope.
No, no, you have it all wrong. You don’t go the island route. You go the yummy-Benadryl-now-all-six-episodes-of-Season-1-The-Walking-Dead route.
Really, Ilana. Sometimes you disappoint me.
So funny. Is she really pregnant?
God knows, I didn’t name them that…
OMG! She should totally rent out the nursery for kid’s birthday parties! Problem solved.
You and me both.
I have been hiding under the changing table all day. No one has noticed.
I was gonna say— I highly doubt Beyonce has ever touched a mop. Although I shouldn’t talk, I can’t remember the last time I did either.
I read that she is due in April. Did I do the math wrong?
I would KILL for a playroom.
HA! Mazzy as Beyonce’s baby’s baby muse. I like it.
Start a football team? Work on their gymnastic floor routines? Train for a triathlon?
I’m pretty sure she is definitely pregnant.
It’s okay. Real estate envy can turn the best of us.
Fancy monitoring system?? Please. Hear no evil, see no evil, am I right?
That’s what I did wrong! I didn’t get rid of stuff to make room for the baby. That explains the pile of stuffed animals in the middle of my living room floor.
“Baby’s nursery” is just code for “nanny accommodations”.
What could be next? A $50,000 stroller? A solid gold high chair? I can’t wait!
Don’t ever accuse me of not being fair and balanced. Here’s a link to a post describing Jay-Z and Beyonce’s efforts to raise money for underprivileged kids to go to college.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20533903,00.html
I love this piece. So funny. These stars are out of control with the baby stuff.
THEY can have the fancy monitoring system. WE would just enjoy the soundproofed suite and go watch some DVRs tv.
My house is appx 2000 square feet. My entire house. I can’t even get my head around that much space for a kid. An infant, nuh uh. But then a kid? I’m perfuzzled.
This cracks me up! I know I was all about a cute nursery with my first baby (nothing like Mrs. Jay Z’s). But once the baby arrived he slept in a bassinet by my bed for the first few months. Wonder if all that space will be used? I also have visions of baby Blue Ivy (or is it Ivy Blue?) hiding from her parents in that massive place. They may lose her and never find her.