Look what arrived at our doorstep this morning...

                                                  the chair, not the bear!

This is the closest I could reasonably find to the child's first chair/weaning chair. We are in Australia and unfortunately we do not have a Michael Olaf here. Which could be why I was excited, it takes research, thinking and a little time waiting for furniture like this. 

This is the Cube Chair and is hand crafted by Montessori Child. It is for the new baby however Caspar has already spent much time sitting and standing on it. He actually turned it over and stood on it to reach at bench which demonstrates how versatile it is. 

Being a cube chair it can be used as a low seat, higher seat, stool or small table. The side and back supports are important elements. Often with a chair like this a child can pull themselves up into a sitting position before they can walk. This one in particular is really cute and although made from timber is surprisingly light - easy for a small child to move around. 

I guess you can tell that I am super impressed and really like this find. My biggest gripe is why is good solid, child centred, well thought out furniture so hard to find. Why does the mass produced children's furniture (and toys) so often miss the mark. What went wrong?

I frequently hear (more so now that I have started blogging) how expensive Montessori is. I agree on the schooling front. Often Montessori schools are expensive. But to implement Montessori in the home can be affordable and in so many ways cheaper than a conventional way of parenting/raising children. Take for example a Montessori child's room, while the furniture may be more difficult to source, the room itself is simple with relatively few items. Compare to the modern nursery which is full of unnecessary items and decorative additions only for the real pleasure of the adult.  

Rant over. But if you do not follow Montessori I would encourage you to check out some of the alternatives to the modern nursery and consider alternatives to the mass produced. It doesn't mean spending more. 

And if you have found a great source of children's furniture (especially in Australia) I would LOVE to hear about it. Oh how I wish my husband studied woodcraft!