B is a hands-on boy. He not only must participate in the the goings-on in our daily home life, but he must direct the activities too - this behavior began at about 18 months. Many of our daily activities involve doing things in the kitchen and I realized right away that if I was going to get anything done throughout the day, B needed to have a safe stool to lift him up to counter height - a chair was not going to work.
That's why I'm loving the [amazon B001ECHXVC inline]. It's a fantastic wooden contraption designed to allow your kids (18 months+) to participate in the kitchen activities. It adjusts to your kids' ever changing height, cleaning is a cinch--no need to add extra work to your load. It's super versatile (it converts to a desk, a fort, and even a puppet theater) and totally worth the cost. We use it many times throughout the day and I'm always at ease knowing B won't get too close to the stove or feel the need to climb up on the counters. We've had it for about a year and a half now and he can even slide it over to the microwave and make his own popcorn. He told me he'd like to take cooking lessons soon so I'm hoping by the time next summer rolls around, he'll take over for me in the kitchen.