You guys,
I spent the majority of Sunday Googling fucking high chairs.
This was after Sam announced for the 87th time how much he hated the one we use for George. We were not going to make the same mistake with Baby #2.
If there’s one thing I want out of a high chair, it’s that it’s easy to clean. You know what the top review of the Stokke Tripp Trapp High Chair says on the acclaimed Babylist website?? “Easy to clean.”
That is a joke. The top straps are near-impossible to remove. Every time Sam removed them it took him close to 15 minutes and he literally hurt himself. And the crotch strap? Forget it. You need a screwdriver to chip away at the plastic for it to come off. I’m not kidding.
But this high chair is highly rated. And my friends love it. Sam and I started to wonder, do other parents know something we don’t??
So I went on Reddit. A fellow parent was lamenting about how hard it was to clean the straps. She wrote:
“Oh my gosh, the straps are crazy. … What do people know that I don’t know for cleaning this harness?”
There were 22 comments. Here was my favorite response:
“I put my entire Tripp Trapp in the shower and just used hot water and a little dish soap on it. It worked like a charm!”
And now I want to go on Reddit every day.
But anyway, most of the other comments said they don’t use the straps at all. You don’t really need them. So we removed the straps. For good. (I can’t watch Sam try to put them back on again.)
We’re still getting a different high chair for Baby Girl. Any recommendations??
Essay of the Week
I listened to an interview with David Perell and he told the story of how he got into college.
It was a great story. And his final point stuck with me:
“Deviating from the path always worked better for me. And I just haven't stopped applying that principle.”
His story brought me back to my own story of getting into college, and how surprised I was when it had little to do with grades or test scores or even athletics.
Writing Tip
Writers should have strong convictions and bold opinions. Say what you want and stand behind it.
That doesn’t mean you should be preachy or judgmental of your readers.
In her book, How To Raise An Adult: Break Free Of The Overparenting Trap And Prepare Your Kid For Success, author Julie Lythcott-Haims confesses in the Introduction:
“Whereas once upon a time I was a dean at a highly selective university tut-tutting the behaviors of overinvolved parents, in the years I’ve spent thinking about this topic I’ve slowly come to appreciate that I’m not much different from the parents I once rather breezily chastised. In many ways, I am the problem parent I’m writing about.”
Instead of feeling judged by Lythcott-Haims for my helicopter parenting tendencies (who, me??), I felt seen. She instantly became relatable and her content felt approachable. I was eager to dive in and learn more.
So have your hot takes. Be provocative. Just don’t be a dick about it.
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Until next week,
Charlie