Nappy, Gnarly Highchairs

For the full effect of these pictures I suggest you click on them.

There are some things in life that I think about fairly frequently. Things that are thought provoking but not necessarily of any substantial value or deep meaning. One of these things is the nastiness of highchairs. We have one that is supposedly easy to clean, however, I think that is a huge false marketing scheme. It comes with this large slide-on tray that collects stuff (you know, bits and pieces of chewed up baby food, cheerios, and slobber) and doesn't fit in the dishwasher. It has this "snap-off" tray that fits on top of the "slide on" try but small bits of that chewed up food collect in the cracks where it "snaps on" to the bigger "slide on" tray. I think the only way this highchair would be considered "easy to clean" would be if we had a drive-thru car wash in our backyard that I could throw it in and let it ride through on the tracks. The nastiness of our highchair, thankfully, hasn't seemed to bother Paiger in the least. As you can see by the pictures above she feels right at home in her highchair. Her favorite thing to do is get a mouthful of food and then chew on the highchair where you see those little red buttons (that's where the slide on tray is supposed to go). Perhaps if my child could keep her food in her mouth and not in her hair and all over her body it would no longer be a problem. This highchair also came with a washable seat cover. As you can see by the picture I have chosen not to use the washable cover because I prefer not to wash it after every meal. If anyone knows of a highchair that doesn't have really small nooks and crannies that collect food particles and other bodily fluids please let me know. I'm at a loss for what to do. My child must eat; she's not big enough for the barstools or "big girl" table yet and she's outgrown her Bumbo... so anyone with an idea please let me know.... for now we'll just continue in our nastiness! If you ever happen to drive by 2343 Kilkenny Dr and you're looking for our house you can just look for the highchair that frequently sits on the front sidewalk after being sprayed down with the hose nozzle. Perhaps this very introspective blog entry has brought me to the conclusion that maybe the problem isn't my highchair but the small child that sits in it! :)