The chair that grows with the child.®
Probably the most powerful person in the entire world is the sales assistant at a baby goods store. Couples, shocked at the news that they are soon to be parents, wander through the doors wide-eyed and innocent. They make their way to the sale items, compare a few prices, then casually say to each other "This one looks alright". This is when the sales assistant confidently wanders over, fixes the couple with a grin, and utters these sacred words: "Sure that one is alright. If you're not worried about safety". It's precisely at this point that new parents are prepared to empty the contents of their wallets to prove just how safety conscious they are about their newly expected.
This is exactly how we came to own our current high chair. It is the largest and singularly most unattractive item of furniture we own. It was also the most expensive. Sure it will probably remain upright through the eye of a tornado, but if the tornado is in anyway discerning it'll give the chair a wide berth and look for the nearest cow. And it is so bulky that it can't fit anywhere near our dining table, with the result that baby Rita sits on her own in one corner of the dining room while the rest of us wave at her every few minutes to let her know she's still part of the family.
Now enter the Tripp Trapp from Stokke. Following on from a great tradition in Scandinavian furniture, the Tripp Trapp comes flat packed. Luckily I have almost completed my PhD in Ikea Furniture Assembly so putting the chair together resulted in only one very short tantrum in which I summoned an army of Nordic Vikings to destroy the Scandinavian furniture industry. Luckily my prayers went unanswered, because the end result is pretty impressive.
Firstly, the chair itself is beautiful. Not in an ostentatious, Pamela Anderson sort of way but in a simple, elegant Audrey Hepburn style. Audrey-esque, let's call it. As the chair comes in 12 colours it was easy enough to decide on a colour that actually looked like it belonged in our kitchen, which is a refreshing change from the screaming blue and white of our old chair. In fact, putting the Tripp Trapp next to the old chair made the old chair look like a science experiment gone horribly wrong rather than a piece of furniture.
And when it comes to practicality and safety it's no slouch either. Sure it might get ruffled if hit by a reversing African elephant inside a Bavarian wind tunnel, but outside of that it's very sure on its feet. The baby set that comes with the chair kept Rita snugly in place, while the four-point safety harness ensured that not even baby Houdini could come to grief.
All-in-all the Tripp Trapp ticked all the boxes for style, practicality and price. Actually, make that two ticks for style. Now, if only they made them for adults...
