My husband is off this week, so today, he accompanied Babycakes and me to IKEA to pick up a couple of things. He always refers to IKEA as "Sweden" for obvious reasons. I have to say that I am continuously disappointed by that massive, windowless store, not only because it is absolutely panic-inducing on any given weekend, but because the quality of the products leaves so much to be desired. Items look deceptively cute and appealing on the website, but in person, I feel like I might as well be shopping at Goodwill. I mean, if you want it to look like you spent $10 on an area rug that comes shoved in a plastic bag, designed by some guy named Norse, then IKEA is the place to go. I just feel like I've moved beyond the "first apartment out of college" look, but whatever.
I've heard that some people actually take a sedative or anti-anxiety pill before entering, as one might do before a flight, because the sheer size, suffocating closeness, and horrible artificial lights of the store are enough to cause a normally calm person to fear for her life. And I'm pretty sure the $5 curtains and meatball smell have something to do with it, too. Shudder.
Anyway, we were in the children's section looking around, and my husband wandered off while pushing Babycakes in his stroller. They came across a young boy playing at a train table, and the child began talking to my husband. The boy complained that he couldn't open a box of toy trains, and my husband told him that he had to buy them first, and then he could play with them. The child then quickly shoved the box in his mouth and started biting on it. That's when my husband realized that the boy had misunderstood the directions, and thought he had to bite the box before he could play with it. I asked if he made any attempt to correct the child, and my husband said he did not. He just got the heck out of there before the mother caught her son and he was blamed for the box biting.
I wonder what that kid was on.
