Mar 05 2009
Dish Up a Fun Meal
Meal time with four toddlers can be quite a riot… I’ll let you decide whether I mean riot ha-ha or riot help me. It can differ from meal to meal. You would think the biggest struggle would be getting my daughters to actually eat. Most days, however, the biggest challenge is making sure each of them gets the right plate. Some days they want Dora, some days they all want a certain green cup. Then I found a great set of dinnerware from IKEA. Perhaps I should clarify. I have never set foot in an IKEA store. My stepmom found these matching plates, cups and bowls and my daughters think they’re great. The picture I used doesn’t do them justice. They come in neon colors and we have two complete sets (six different colors). When it’s meal time my daughters race to the table because they get to pick their color based on their arrival order. If you all want the orange cup then you better be the first one at the table! What a great tactic for getting them to listen! I only have two complaints. The dinnerware also has matching forks and spoons which are simply too big for tiny toddler hands. My only other complaint? “Matching” has been a big lesson lately at preschool so my daughters are pretty miffed I try to give them the blue plate with the pink cup. Hey, if all it takes to make them happy and eat is to give them matching dinnerware, I’m all for it.
2 Responses to “Dish Up a Fun Meal”
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Oh Ikea…I have a love/hate relationship with Ikea.
I love their stuff and their prices.
I hate the busy and crazed mob that infects their store, and just the size of the store in general.
Ikea makes Super Walmart look like a neighborhood convenience store.
My advice on your 1st Ikea trip (cause I know you will have one eventually)…
* Do not go on the weekend. Go during typical workday hours on a weekday. I’m lucky that ours is near my workplace, so I go during my lunch hour if I need something.
* If you must go on the weekend, get there as early as they open. Bring reinforcements, or even a buddy to keep you calm.
* Even if you think you have a good memory, write down where you parked the car.
* Leave the kids behind, if possible. Some stores do have a little daycare area you can leave potty trained children in, but it is very hard to keep track of kids in the massive maze of a store mobbed with people.
* The signs are basically useless. Just follow the flow, and eventually you will make it to the end. You won’t see many employees, so don’t panic. Just relax and follow the stream. Chances are someone knows where they are going.
* Have a clear list of things you need before you go. It is VERY easy to be distracted.
* After your virgin trip, you’ll figure out the store and subsequent trips will be easy. No matter how much you might hate it the first time, you will be back. It’s too tempting.
* If buying furniture that needs assembly (which would be almost all their furniture) try to assess the difficulty of the assembly on the finished product on the showroom floor. Some of that stuff is TOUGH!
* Be prepared that they likely do not include things you may take as a given when buying other products. This is how they keep their prices down. If you a shelf and expect hardware to hang it on the wall, it is likely not in there. Curtains are typically unhemmed. Just check the packaging info carefully to make sure whatever you need to install the product is included, or on your list to pick up.
But, for all that, I still am addicted to their stuff. They just can’t be beat on their prices for some of that stuff, and they also have some very clever items. Those Europeans know how to design things to maximize space.