Ikea A Great Family Day Out and Visit to Småland

For some people a day spent at Ikea, at the weekend, when it's busy, is their idea of hell.

But not me!  Being a SAHM, Aaron and I are together every day, so where he goes I go and vice versa.

We were faced with the choice of Ikea on Friday or Saturday, and chose Saturday so that we could have our usual Friday with my friend and her little boy - we spent the day at a soft play area.

Anyway so Saturday.  Daddy dropped us there before he headed to work.

They have trollies like you'd find in Tesco and Aaron hopped in no trouble.  I thought ooooh this is going to be easy! Yeah! I jinxed myself, like us Mums are prone to do!

So we got as far as the bedding area we needed to go to, and by then the novelty had worn off and he wanted out. I must have said 7 times "okay if you stay where Mummy can see you".

Anyway, a LOVELY Sales Assistant took pity on me and got me everything that was on our list, and we headed off for a look around.  You know what, Aaron loved looking at the made up bedrooms and made up sitting rooms.  He had something to say about each and every one.

Before I tell you more about our day here are some photos:

The reason I included a pic of washed dishes above is because whilst there I bought one of these: ORDNING DISH DRAINER! EVEN that was flat packed and I had to insert about 8 screws in it after Aaron was asleep. Then always one to want to use a toy immediately I then set about doing all of the washing up.  No, I hadn't done it before we went out - I've never claimed to be a domestic goddess.  We used to have the wooden one for years and years but it fell apart, and I haven't enjoyed washing up since I disposed of it.  Now I have this, order is restored BUT it was £12 AND it requires construction and the rod at the bottom, ONLY stays in (on mine at least) once you start building it, and wedge it in.  You'll see what I mean if you get one.  I am already polishing it with stainless steel cleaner every day to keep the water marks off it.  Wonder how long that novelty will last!!!

***

Back to our day out. I digressed, sorry!

Anyway, we got round the store without too much trouble and he even coped with the queues and the till area.  I had to get him to help on the conveyor belt to stop him being naughty but all was well.

The real problems started when we went to the Home Delivery desk.  He went in behind the counter and started climbing on flat packed furniture, and I made the classic Mummy mistake of over-reacting.  THEN I tried to put him back in said Tesco-style trolley (the seat of it) and he did the full-on shaking body exorcist style thing that 2/3 year olds are capable of.  I over reacted again and there was much crying on his behalf and shouting on mine.  The Home Delivery lady patiently waited till I got chance to actually finish a sentence with her.  I commend her for her patience and professionalism!  BUT she then said the home delivery could only be done if we provided Ikea blue bags.......... Ahhhhhhh. I have 9 of them at home, but not there.  Not. In. The. Store.

So, we went to queue again, and this time was not successful.  Aaron found an abandoned soft toy (bunny) and threw it in the air a million times, with me hoping each time it would not bop someone on the head, like this.  We got to the top of the queue without that happening. I was JUST about to breathe a HUGE sigh of relief, when he discovered that the till next to us was vacant.  Normally (in Lidl) he would sit on the seat and pretend to be a cashier (which I usually get away with) but here, there was no chair so he climbed.  My cashier went bonkers. I dealt with Aaron, apologised to her and wanted to just pay for my 2 x blue bags and move on away.  But she noticed I had a blue bag by my feet (the things I'd earlier paid for, that were NOT being home delivered and were not over "there" waiting with angelic Home Delivery lady, in a trolley, waiting for the 2 blue bags I was purchasing).  Still with me?  Anyway after all the bunny throwing and till climbing, I lost my patience in a way that yogic me would never have done (maybe I need to finally take it back up) and I got out all 4 of my receipts, showed them to her, and said "what! Are you Security now?!?!?" I then stomped off back to Home Delivery and told Aaron that after his behaviour we were no longer going to the Cafe.

We then went to the cafe *coughs*

Oh I missed a bit! I tried to stomp off, but Aaron walked passed her with said bunny, which was not ours, and which we had not paid for.  She of course said something.  I took it off him, which felt like it took 10 minutes to do, and a meltdown ensued.  NICE staff would have taken it off him for me, in a NICE way, but this particular cashier had anger management issues, and suffice to say, I said goodbye to her, in her own language as she was a national of the same country as my best friend at school for 7 years.

Anyway as you can see from the photos above, we had a grand old time there in the Ikea restaurant.  The food is delicious and cheap.

Ikea has these metal trollies that you can put 3 dinner trays on.  Aaron simply loved pushing it and choosing what he and I were going to eat (he picked my cake).  I treated myself to a beer - at this stage boy did I need it!

Aaron had two drinks (the 2nd of which I had to queue up again for), I had a coffee and a beer.  All was well with the world again.

The ONLY vacant place to sit to eat, happened to be next to one of those bandstand play area thingies that Ikea has in its restaurants.  So he ate for a short amount of time and ran in there.  Ironically there were soft toys in there which everyone was throwing up at the ceiling (of the play area) and then catching them.  It must be confusing at 3, to see something being done joyfully that you were being told off for only 30 minutes earlier.

He made friends with two boys in there and they ended up playing together for 2 hours (well strictly speaking the 1st boy left after about an hour or rather his parents did and he followed).

I thought wow this is the life, if only I had a magazine, or at least Twitter on my phone.  Poor internal memory means I have neither Facebook nor Twitter on my phone - I know, life sucks!!!

So finally we left, but ONLY because the boys started playing in a long corridor adjacent to the restaurant and coffee bar, and Aaron spied the play area outside and decided he wanted to go there.

Now look what happens next, oh the irony.  As we leave the store to go to the climbing frame and slide by the car park, Aaron spies Småland and decides he wants to go there.

I explain:

1) Mummy is not allowed in there, which sees him saying "but I want Mummy to come WITH me"
and
2) Children go in there so their Mummies and Daddies can shop and I have ALREADY done my shopping.

We go out and play and he has fun but then starts talking about the play area again (Småland).  I am thinking, "you have played in the restaurant play area for TWO hours with TWO lovely boys" and "now you are having a grand old time in the Ikea playground outside AND yet YOU want to do something ELSE TOO!?!?!?!? SAY WHAT??!?!?

So I drag bring him inside and get the staff member to explain that he goes in without Mummy and he says yes I understand, and he wants to go. WHAT?!?!?!?! She explains the next "appointment" is 17:30 (I look at my watch and it is now 16:15).  I explain this to Aaron who is not at all fazed.  It is an exceptionally cold day and I explain that we'll have to go outside and play for over an hour and come in AGAIN when it is our turn.  His look says "so!".

Off we trot.  We make good friends outside with a 4 year old girl and her Dad. They play, we talk, and all is well with the world again.

It comes to 17:20 and we go in.  Turns out they are allowing the 17:30 people in already. Well done Mummy instinct :-)

Aaron goes in without a backward glance.  This is Aaron who holds on to my legs every day at nursery and cries for 40 minutes and then HOWLS when I actually finally leave.  Don't get me wrong, he had 3 days there BEFORE Ireland and went in without a backward glance then.  But, since we came back from Ireland, it is drama every day.  I know the reason. Two of the boys are picking on him, but the staff's attitude is that if they didn't see it, it didn't happen.

Anyway the proof that there is a problem at nursery is that (1) he was fine those days before Ireland and (2) at Ikea he didn't know the place or the staff or Småland or the other kids, and he went straight in.

I spied on him a few times during the hour (bearing in mind I had already done my shopping - no the irony hasn't escaped me) and he was having SO SO SO SO much fun.  So much so, that I will be going there again soon!

SO that is how we came to end up spending a WHOLE day there.  We left home at 11:40 a.m. and got back home at about 19:35.

We were both shattered by then.

All of the staff we encountered, apart from the angry cashier, were awesome.  So if you ever feel like a weekend trip to Ikea, don't leave the kids at home.

They'll love Småland and they'll love the restaurant.  You can only go to Småland though if your kids are between the ages of 3-8 years old and toilet trained.  Fab atmosphere in there, I was really impressed.

This post is not commercial in any way.  I just wanted to share a lovely, intense, day out with you, and also record it for posterity! It was jam packed after all!

Fun Filled Day

I need to write about yesterday QUICKLY so that I can at some point do a blog post about TODAY, the day that should NEVER happen again............ Aaron embarassed me so many times today, I think the next time I go out I need to do so with a BAG OVER MY HEAD :-(

Anyway, enough about today, let's look back to the blissful day that was yesterday :-)

Yesterday we met up with my friend and her little boy. We met at the Supermarket, but she was late, and Aaron ran around, to say the least, while we waited for her:

So, due to the above mayhem (which was actually NOTHING compared to today), when my friend arrived, she said that her buggy was in her husband's car, (near the station) and could she go and get it while I minded her son and mine.

I looked across the road at the Library and said, I think it would be safer to mind them there, than here.  I said, it's been hard watching Aaron for 15 minutes while waiting for you.  I can't go through it for a further 15 minutes with TWO boys, as there was nowhere safe to go: inside mayhem with them picking up items, or the hazards of cars in the carpark outside = ALL A BIG NO NO!

Anyway I have lived here 12 years and have NEVER set foot in my library so had NO IDEA what to expect.

Boy am I glad that we did.  So funny to think it wasn't even planned but just a straw that I grabbed at, in a thinking outside the box kind of way.

Anyway me and two boys headed for the library while my friend went to the station to get her buggy out of her husband's car.

As you can see, they didn't even take their jackets off, as I had only ducked in there as a stop-gap while she went to get the buggy.

BUT THEN, at 14:08 the place started  to fill up, as there was to be storytime at 14:15.

Aaron's nearly three and yet we've never joined a library and never been to storytime.

I convinced my friend to stay (when she arrived back with their buggy) and it was blissful as it included lots of singalongs (I knew ALL the words to ALL the songs and LOVED it).  Aaron was a little naughty (again not a patch on today).  When she read them a Thomas & Friends book, he insisted on going up and pressing the button EVERY time she turned the page.  It annoyed some of the other parents.  I was mortified as Aaron stays sitting down for storytime at nursery. I don't know what got into him to be honest.  Then when he didn't like me holding him on my lap as a result of that, he then ran off, and completely missed the Wheels on the Bus singalong, which was a travesty as it is by far his favourite song but he was inconsolable just because I would not let him go up anymore to press the button on the Thomas book (the staff member leading storytime had been 100% patient but one particular parent had had enough - understandably).

Anyway, thank God I did not walk out, as then they had CRAFT time.

Anyone who knows me, or this blog, knows, me and Aaron do not like do craft (sorry Maggie)...

But it was bliss...

They were given a drawing of a bus, and pens and crayons and enough characters to fit in every window (paperclipped to the drawing of the bus).  There was glue on every table and it was their job to put a character in each window and glue it down, followed by colouring in the bus if they wanted to.

We had SUCH fun doing it, as did my friend and her son.  So much so we went back to the library today and joined.  Each of our son's now has a membership card in their own name.  We're allowed to withdraw 12 books.  Today, I got 11 for Aaron and my friend got 6 for her son.

Anyway THIS was the artwork Aaron produced.  I am so proud.  Love it:

I added the "@NEWMUMONLINE" with picmonkey.  That isn't actually ON the picture :-)

Anyway, the next bit is where it got spooky.

The last time me and my friend took our boys to soft play, it closed at 4 p.m. So considering it was a bus ride away we were taking a big risk in doing storytime, which then became song time, which became art time.  Despite this, we still went and got the bus to soft play.

I am so glad we just went with the flow and did so, as they have sessions in school holidays and when we got there, the next one was starting at 4 p.m. and it meant we were allowed to stay there till 6 p.m.

So without stressing about whether they'd be open we just went with the flow and it all worked out magically beautifully :-)

Our boys had so much fun at softplay and let off some much needed steam.

Me and my friend actually got to start and finish a sentence and BREATHE whilst they played :-)

They've become the best of friends, as have we, and they had a great time while we relaxed.  (I just wish today had been as enjoyable but more about THAT in another post)....

This is a few pics from soft play.

I could not really take proper pics, as it would involve other children being in them... as you can see, there are a couple of action shots above. Keeping a two year old still aint easy...

Even though it wasn't particularly hot there was a lovely blue sky and despite all of the trees still looking skeletal, I did spot a tree with some BLOSSOMS on, and smiled so much I had to document it with the above photo.

It is the only tree I have seen with blossoms on and they are not particularly pink and you kind of have to stare to notice them at all. It was a pleasure to spot them nonetheless.

This is the two boys that have become the best of friends: