The "Time Out" chair.

I grew up in the 1950's, and there were days in my grandmother's house that would find me sitting in a chair in the middle of the kitchen. Most often, I would have to sit in that chair if my cousin T and I were playing too loudly in the house, or being too messy. T and I were four months apart, and we were always together as little kids. I was the quiet one, she was the trouble-maker (her own words), and those descriptions are still applicable to this day.

When either my Aunt Dolly or Grandma had had enough of us not behaving the way they thought we should behave, we were told to Sit in that chair and don't get up until I tell you to. Me being me, I would sit in the kitchen chair and not move. Usually, the "time out" was ten minutes or less, and then my Aunt Dolly would ask me if I was ready to "behave right," then she'd give me a hug and let me get out of the chair. With my cousin T, her time in the chair usually lasted three times as long, because she wouldn't sit still in the chair for more than three seconds at a time, and I distinctly remember one day when she told Aunt Dolly "You're not my mother so I don't have to listen to you." Aunt Dolly promptly got on the phone to her sister Jaye and told her to drive over right away and pick up her child. Then my aunt used one of her aprons and literally tied my cousin T to that chair and that's where her mother found her twenty minutes later.

In the 1950's, sitting in a chair like that wasn't called "time out," it was just what you did when an adult told you to sit down until you're ready to behave. For the most part, children of the 1950s just did what they were told, when they were told..... my cousin T was way ahead of her time.

So there I was in the resale shop yesterday morning, and right near the main counter was this cute little child-sized chair, painted in purple and green and yellow, all stripes and polka-dots and curlicues, and the words "Time Out" painted across the back of the chair, underneath a little cut-out of a crown. Totally cute.... and of course (not having kids) I thought of my cats, all of whom are used to having cat-sized furniture. The practically new chair was marked just $5 because it was missing a couple of screws and was a bit wobbly. When I got it home, all I had to do was tighten up the screws in the legs, and add two more from the screws that we accumulate in a glass jar. I didn't tell the lady behind the counter that I was buying that chair for my cats, by the way.

Into the TV room the chair went..... if AngelBoy were still around, I know that blue-eyed cat would have claimed that chair as his own. Mickey Kitty was the first to inspect the chair, putting his paw through the little cut-out of the crown. Sweet Pea sniffed all around the chair but didn't jump up on it. Gatsby didn't seem to be interested at all-- he was napping in the big recliner. Mickey has already taken a nap on that little chair, and he seems to like the spot where the chair is because it gives him a good view of everything going on in the TV room. A cat's-eye view from a green & purple & yellow chair. And my cats can't read, so they probably think the words Time Out mean "The Cat Throne."