Wednesday, January 2, 2013

I heart IKEA

Christmas holiday cabin fever got to us all today, and we escaped along a scarily-foggy motorway to Cardiff, to spend the day in IKEA.  I don't really understand why people use the Marmite-principle to describe IKEA, I can't see what there is to dislike about it.

It is, in no particular order:

  • inside
  • warm
  • well-organised
  • pleasingly-laid out
  • like looking around people's houses without having to talk to them
  • aspirational (who doesn't want a library comprising Billy bookcases?)
  • affordable


and it has:

  • great storage solutions
  • pleasing textiles and design
  • simple children's toys
  • useful children's equipment
  • play areas all over the place
  • indoor and outdoor playgrounds
  • a free creche (free!  We haven't got to use this yet, "Maybe when I'm four," says J)
  • all kinds of free crap for Family members (free fruit, cheap children's meals, free coffee, free ice cream, reduced other things)
  • RIDICULOUS reductions on Christmas decorations (I bought a load of stuff for next year, which should have cost about £50, and cost me £4.50)
  • a comfortable nursing area if you're shy about getting your baps out, and lots of seating areas all over the place if you're not (I made use of both today)
  • amazing meatballs and cinnamon rolls


Essentially, it's like a great family day out, if you want to dress up a shopping trip as a great family day out.  If I lived in Cardiff, I'd be there all the time.  We spent nearly 5 hours there today, at least 3 of which were walking around, and I'm really feeling it in my legs now.

Following J's birth, I had some tests done on my 'offensive-smelling placenta' (oooh, there's a phrase you want to hear after forty hours of labour) and what first showed Group G Strep (not overly worrying) then showed up as Group B Strep (lots of panicky 'AWOOOOOGA!' noises from everyone and a readmittance to hospital).  This meant that (I'm going to try and be delicate here, I'm probably going to fail) my stitched-up lady-area also got infected with GBS, and caused me lots of mobility difficulties and unimaginable pain.  I got stuck in the bath, purely because I couldn't bear the pain of trying to get out.  I was prescribed rest, rest, and more rest.  I wasn't allowed to go for a walk round the block.  I went a little stir-crazy, but as I could barely get off the sofa, there wasn't much I could do about it.

When I started to feel better and could walk again, I went for a walk around the village, and ached afterwards as though I'd run a 10k (I say this, never having run a 10k.  I imagine your legs are quite sore on the following day).  That was a mere 3 weeks ago, and I haven't really built much stamina up since then.

Which all goes to say that a 3-hour walk round IKEA for me, is like running a marathon for your average person, and I'm therefore entering it as my exercise for today.  For good measure, I did 19 minutes of Wii Fit (according to which, I've put on a pound since yesterday) and beat my high score in the Hula Hooping.  I rock.


I'm off to devour my new IKEA catalogue while my delicious girl snores quietly in my ear.  Good night ;)

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

i do like ikea...but for us it involves going to Croydon :shocked face:

Beth said...

I live with a boy who grew up in Beckenham, so we'll have none of that snobbery round here ;)

Helen said...

Oh, you poor poor thing, I did wonder what had happened from your comment yesterday about being well enough again to exercise...that sounds like a nightmare. (but you did get a pretty gorgeous baby out of the whole thing - definite redeeming feature imo)
Definitely in that case Ikea counts as exercise, and yes, I'm quite with you on this one - fun for all the family! At the Croydon one, that used to be our local too, they attach all the toys to the shelves so you can't steal them (not that I was trying to) but I'm hoping that when we get to the Bristol one they might be a bit more trusting so we can try them out properly...

Beth said...

Oooh the Bristol one is lovely Helen (or at least it was last time I went) - they have a circular play area in the cafe with a breakfast-bar type thing around the edge, so you can sit and drink coffee and watch your children beat the crap out of each other with soft toys :D

We got diverted off the M5 on the way home from my parents' house in Devon once, and went to Ikea Bristol for tea. It was great ;)

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