I have always had a love hate relationship with IKEA. I fall in love with their products the minute I set my eyes on them in the catalogue. But I lack the eye for visualizing how the product will look in my home. Most of time, what I buy does not gel well with the things I have at home, so I end up hating it. There are plans to throw out everything I have and order the whole room…..but not going to happen-huh?

A trip to IKEA is like a one day thingy and on the average I make only one visit a year, that too mostly to take parents and in-laws for their customary before-they-leave-to-India-shopping.

Now, my children have the I-hate-IKEA gene directly inherited from their father. The first time I took Chula, she was around 4.5 months old. I forgot to take extra feeding bottles and ran out of water for her formula. I leave it up to you to visualize what would have ensued. During this particular tip, I was in the living room display, when the then 40 week pregnant Boo called from Swiss, seeking my expert(?) medical(??) opinion if she must go to the hospital, if it was time…. Boo, every time I walk by that corner, the display is different, but it is always Ashu corner for me!

The second time I went Mieja was around 3 months, Chula was 20 months. Chula felt claustrophobic the minute we stepped in to the elevator. She started screaming, took a short break from screaming when she was in the ball pit, promptly resumed her screaming the minute we took her out.

This time I went with a dear friend. She had a 3 year old and a 5 month old under her wing and I had Chula and Mieja with me. At any given point of time, we had at least three screaming children in our hands! Half the time we adults were running from the showroom-restroom-parking lot in frenzy.

Some interesting things I noticed with the kids during this trip.

When Chula was getting antsy (may be she thought we were in some one’s home, but it didn’t look like a home…I don’t know), I told her, ‘Kannamma, just for a little while. Amma and aunty want to shop’. She enthusiastically chirped in, ‘We are shooping ammmmmma? Okay.’ From then on, anything she set her eyes on, she piled in to my shopping cart and told me, ‘Shopping amma. I am shopping.’

Mieja would cry and the minute she sees a stuffed toy, she would calm down. She would hug her toy with all her strength and bury the toy in the crook of her neck and give a wide smile. The second she sees a new stuffed toy, she would throw the one she is holding, ask for the new one and proceed to hug the new toy.

Chula was playing on the slide and there was a 4-5 year old boy monopolizing the slide. He was lying down on his stomach, kicking the children behind him and screaming at the kids at the foot of the slide. Chula was right behind him. At some point, she imitated me, same tone, same calmness in voice that means business, the same way I make eye contact and said to the boy, ‘Honeeei you need to move. You are blocking the way.’ The boy starred at her for a few seconds and said, ‘I have sharp teeth. Don’t come near me.’ But he did move away 🙂

Okay, this is what happens if you all decide to twist my arm in to writing a new post! Any more third degree treatment, I have a post about a trip to the market coming right up!