If you have a toddler and you haven’t got a KABOOST, you don’t know what you’re missing.

At about 17 months my son began to occasionally refuse his booster because, quite frankly, he got my control freak streak and hates to be strapped in if he’s “in one of those moods” and/or not absolutely famished. We’ve tried letting him sit right at the table without his tray many times but his booster seat didn’t allow him to be pulled close enough and he was eye level with the table without it.

With KABOOST, we’ve found our answer.

It’s a lightweight chair booster that fits under the legs of any 4 legged seat and lifts the whole thing closer to the table. There are two different heights (4.5” and 3.75”) adjusted simply by flipping it over. The height adjustment feature is great for growing kids and also for different table styles. My son could probably use the higher seat height right now at 19.5 months but his legs would be crushed by the edge of the table and the shorter one is certainly good enough to make him happy and comfortable at the table.

The KABOOST folds up small for portability and each of the four legs is tightly spring loaded to grip the legs of your chair safely, whether they’re round or square, fat or skinny. Since it increases the base measurement of the chair, it actually increases the stability slightly. A nice touch for a monkey like my son!

The KABOOST retails for $40 and is available in three colours.

If only they made these for short moms.

(Wait. They hold up to 300 pounds! What do you think the wait staff would say if I brought my own KABOOST for my bar stool?)

Save 20% on your KABOOST order until January 31, 2008
with the code kaboostday

One randomly selected lucky T.O.P. reader will win a KABOOST in their choice of colour. To enter, email theopinionatedparent@gmail.com with KABOOST in the subject line and list the three available colour choices before midnight MST on 12/19/07. Please include your complete mailing address and blog link if you’d like us to link you up if you win. Congratulations Betty!

The Learning Tower from Little Partners Inc. is an indispensable piece of furniture once you’ve tried it. You know the type - one you may not have thought to purchase for yourself but once you have it you don’t know how you lived without it.

Kids love to help in the kitchen. Little boys and girls learn invaluable skills by helping an adult prepare meals, do crafts and bake treats, and it’s a lot easier if they can reach the counter with no fear of falling off that rickety old step stool. (For the sake of future wives everywhere, please PLEASE bring the boys in there too! And maybe they can use it to clean the bathroom?) There’s great joy to be found in cooking with kids, but there’s also great frustration and many tears (not just the kids) if you don’t have the right equipment.

The Learning Tower is so much more than a step stool. Designed for children ages two to six, the platform can be lowered as children grow to enable children at any stage to be at counter height and is easy & quick to adjust to accommodate different age children. The sturdy, non-tip construction makes it very safe for toddlers and young children. The platform has four sides for safety and is roomy enough for two kids to be comfortable (and, we hope, working together without fighting? Does it come with something for that?) It’s made of durable sturdy hardwood with a durable high gloss finish that just wipes clean.

It meets all safety standards for home playground equipment, which is nice when you have kids that resemble monkeys (in actions, not looks). It’s, admittedly, a large presence in the kitchen but it’s such an incredible sanity saver that it doesn’t take long to get used to moving around it. We tested The Learning Tower with four kids from 18 months to 4.5 years and there was not one child who didn’t ask their mom to buy them one when they got home. (Well, the 18 month old said “Mama, MINE!” and tried to take it home, but I’d say that’s pretty much the same thing!)

The optional but way cool playhouse kit transforms the learning tower into an imaginative play space like a puppet theater or fort. We took The Learning Tower to a local preschool full of at-risk kids and set it up as a playhouse. The kids fought for turns in it (which we quickly put to a stop, but you get my point) and the creative play that came out was amazing. So amazing, in fact, that we left it there forever.

One piece of furniture that keeps kids from falling, allows them to help so you can keep your eye on them and they’re not flushing your bra and gain valuable skills & independence and keeps them entertained for hours outside the kitchen? I’d say that’s a hit.

Find a retailer near you or online.