小椅子的意義--what a difference a chair makes

When Dawei, Sebastian and I visited my brother in Taichung, he took us to this diner called Finga's Base Camp. It's a wonderful, family and child-friendly diner with freshly made food. It sort of doubles up as a deli and a supermarket. And it has a nice and sunny garden area. What impressed me about this place is that it has more than one highchairs for young kids. These days, I am becoming less and less willing to patron a restaurant that doesn't keep a high chair around. It's not much to invest. And if a restaurant doesn't want to make such an investment, then it's making a statement about who it wants as its customers. As a potential customer, I also can be choosy for the sake of a pleasant dining experience with my child.

A chair for a child makes a world of difference. What's in a chair? It's a claim on space. It spells a right to be here, to be among other people, old, young, poor, rich.

At home, Sebastian has always liked to move a small wooden chair around. He didn't seem that interested in sitting on it. He would turn it over, push it across the floor, or lift it. He tried to stand on it a couple of times--with our supervision. Sometimes he just seems content with having an object of the same scale. After all, everyday is like Jack and the Beanstock day.

One day, my mom bought a red plastic stool for Sebastian. It's much lighter and easy to move around. This red chair has a special function--it's the "eating" chair. Depending on the hour of the day and where the sun shines in the house, it will be set in different corners. So for example, during breakfast time, the chair is set in the corner between the kitchen and the dining room. When it's "banana" time, the chair is set next to the green couch (see picture). And when it's "cake" time in the afternoon, the chair is set against the door.

What's in a chair? It's a perspective. It's a way to experience the world.