Calm day. Denis was home from being in Indianapolis over the weekend for work. We were supposed to go with him but with Ronin's potty training not quite in the groove and being stuck in a hotel room with no clear plan, it was better for us to stay home. Since I've been on an organizational kick, it dawned on me last night that to get rid of the clutter on the kitchen table was to have a home for it (and sort it later). After taking some measurements I concluded that a small credenza on casters would fit nicely under the table. I thought about putting a desk in our bedroom but quite honestly sitting here at the kitchen table is my basis for operations. That meant I would have to make a trip to IKEA. Looking at the calendar, the next available day for a visit would have been Thursday. Today is Monday and when I'm on a mission, four days is way too long to wait. I did have to take pause for a moment because I would have to take the kids to IKEA by myself. Denis had groomsmen duties this evening for his buddy so I would have to fly solo if I really wanted the credenza. I feared the kids fighting, screaming and running around knocking fragile items over. I feared a scene. With a short list in hand I packed the kids in the car and headed out. Since it was Monday, the parking lot was not crowded at all. I have always wondered how I'd get the kids into the building without a stroller but now that all three of them are walking it was much easier to navigate the parking lot. I held Nikko's hand on one side, Audrey's in the other, and Ronin held onto Audrey's other hand. CUTE. The IKEA gods blessed us today because I saw an army of shopping carts with the ride-on cars attached to the front all lined up next to an elevator. The boys took the bottom and Audrey sat in the cart with some mild resistance but her curiosity won over.
I used to be able to run into the IKEA in Schaumburg, IL with my list in hand and know exactly where my items were. I'd tsk tsk the first-time shoppers who where overwhelmed with the store, weave my way between aisles and run along the center circle that hugged the escalators on each floor, knowing I could cross from one end of the store to the other in a straight line without having to run in a circle. Well, today I forgot that our IKEA had a recent remodel. They blocked most of the center circle off so that shoppers have to walk around each floor in a circle, purposefully making shoppers pass by and stare at the rooms set up with varying styles of all their furniture and accessories. I hate it. It is going to be a nightmare during the holidays. There will be bottleneck traffic. And they moved things around so of course I don't know exactly where my target items were. I hoped the kids wouldn't get too bored and antsy in the shopping cart/car with two steering wheels. As I said, the IKEA gods blessed us with a pleasant shopping trip. Nikko sat in the car practically the entire time, holding a plastic flower that I gave him along with his sibs. He didn't squirm or try to get out. Ronin got a little hyper-excited when he saw some toy trains and tracks, but since I had intended to get them for us, I allowed him to carry them closely. We passed by some stuffed toys and I saw some velcro-fabric food. This is the only time Nikko jumped out of the car. He saw the display had velcro ice cream and cake so he started whining for me to open a package. I put the bag in my cart and luckily found two errant ice creams not fastened to a display, so I gave them to Nikko. He calmed down and crawled back into the car. I found the credenza I wanted, took us to the lower level warehouse to pick it up, and basically concluded our trip so smoothly that I rewarded the kids with McDonald's nuggets and fries when we got home. The kids loved the road/race track rug that I picked up for under $14. But when I opened the package of ice cream and cake, Nikko suddenly became interested in the velcro-bundt-shaped cake. I announced it was a birthday cake and Nikko's eyes got really big. He claimed the cake for his own, wouldn't let the others play with it, and kept talking about Birthday Cake. I showed him how to blow the fake candles on it and he enjoyed copying me. Nikko got seriously obsessed with it, not letting that cake out of his sight. Even during his bath, while I put it on the sink counter, Nikko would splash a little bit and then peek around the curtain to make sure the cake was still there. He took the cake to bed with him, too. I wonder if he will want to take it to school. If so, the teachers will have to put it in his backpack. I'll have to warn the bus driver that Nikko may be vehemently protective of that cake on the bus. I may have to go buy another cake as a backup.
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