I admit it, I didn't plan to blog about this today as it's more of a rant that parenting advice of anything 'parenting related' however I feel as a parent and customer that somethings need to be said for a store that has children's play areas dotted about and make you think they are child friendly when in essence if you buy one of their kitchens your kids will be without proper home cooked fresh food for so long you will wonder what you did wrong to get such a severe punishment.
IKEA the famous blue and yellow place often renowned for offering home interiors at affordable prices.
However although the above maybe true, their customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
We like thousands of families out there wanted a shiny new affordable kitchen and whilst dreaming of new kitchens we saw the advert for party-proof kitchens. So we thought if the kitchens are party proof they must be kiddie proof. So off we went to look around Ikea and order a kitchen for delivery from our local store. Reason for this is it's usually quicker in terms of delivery.
So we chose a Faktum Valla Walnut Kitchen with a Domsjo sink and shiny silver plinths. Quite modern but classy all the same.
We got excited-very excited! However all came crashing down when items started to appear out of stock...but only after paying for it and having a delivery date.
So the customer rep that called me was friendly and said once the items were back in stock (worktops and a cabinet) the items would be sent out asap. Great stuff I thought. Bit upset that I was only told one item was missing and then 3 ended up not being on the truck due to stock availability.
So I was told I would get a call when stock was back in-I didn't get a call for a few days so I did a quick check online and to my horror the cabinet was back in stock as were the worktops but no one had called me.
So I arranged a taxi to go to Warrington (cost me over £60.00!) and got no explanation and were fobbed off with a lot of fluff. I came away with a cabinet but no refund for the cabinet which should have been delivered as that was something a different department does. As one of the doors delivered was damaged on delivery I needed to exchange it-online it was showing as in stock. In reality it wasn't in stock and apparently had been DISCONTINUED!!!
What on earth. I was mortified. I purchased the kitchen on the 22.03.2012 and on the 30.03.2012 I was being told it was a discontinued model. So after various conversations, emails, webchats it was all sorted (about 3 weeks later). Ikea Warrington had been polite enough to organise my missing items to be delivered from another store as indeed these items were being discontinued. Now the kitchen sales person never mentioned this even though I told him I was hoping to add another unit to my kitchen.
After around 20 emails, 9 webchats, over 10 phone calls my items arrived this morning. But no I cannot celebrate because:
I've been sent two worktops instead of one!
I've been sent 4 large end panels instead of three
I'm missing 3 small wall panels
After 50 minutes on a webchat Ikea have kindly arranged to have the three missing panels sent out to me Saturday.
However..I am still awaiting a refund of £85.00. When will it happen? Your guess is as good as mine.
So my advice to anyone with a young family who is looking at purchasing an Ikea kitchen is please don't bother. I was kitchen-less for so long and Munchy hated the restricted access to the kitchen. It has been a nightmare in regards to reduced kitchen facilities to cook a decent meal.
My anniversary meal never took place (Happy 6th Anniversary to me) as I had nowhere to safely prepare it.
The headache, worry and anger I have felt over the last few weeks should never have taken place if Ikea valued me as a customer. Clearly they are a company that sells millions of units and I am simply a number.
So if you have the patience of a saint, and your family don't mind waiting between 4-8 weeks to sort out the simple things that shouldn't really go wrong then by all means buy an Ikea kitchen. But if you value your sanity don't bother. Pay a bit more and go elsewhere.
My kitchen might look funky y'all, but it was a headache and cost a lot of blood sweat and tears to get to where I am today.
Well I best sign off as I have the recycling to sort out. Munchy has only taken a 30 minute nap (what's that about) and I have about 10 jars to rinse and put out for the recycling men. How did I end up with so many jars and no kitchen to cook in? There from my spice jar. I have upgraded to the kilner style jars (a bargain from Asda-£3.00 for 3 550ml jars) so my cabinet looks uniformed. No I am not a freak of nature, I just like pretty, tidy rows of things in my cabinets. I am failing to organise the food cabinets though. Packets were never designed in my opinion with cabinets in mind. Whose with me?
Showing posts with label IKEA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IKEA. Show all posts
Thursday, 19 April 2012
Friday, 6 April 2012
When will the work end so Munchy can get back to her routine!
Oh no, I feel like I'm turning into a nag and have a 'To Do List' that is never ending. There's a part of me that feels sorry for my husband for having me go on and on, however it's all for the good of Munchy.
You see I just all the stuff around the house that needs doing finished so Munchy can mooch around without the danger of power tools lurching around every corner. However the problem is none of the work seems near completion and quite frankly I'm losing my patience (shock horror, a woman is losing her patience-get over it men).
Because the truth of the matter is our house has looked like a work in progress since 2009 and all I want now it a house that is a home where I can have play dates for Munchy and be able to relax. I don't think that's asking for too much.
Perhaps the fact I am thinking about how all this work is effecting Munchy is stressing me more? Her nap routine has disappeared (oh God please return it to us) and her night time sleeping is just as bad if not worse now because she isn't eating properly during the day thus needs milk at night. Plus she's abandoned her cot. And when she gets upset she wants DADDY! I think that's to do with the work too-as the husband has been spending time with the workmen Munchy has also been tagging along and spending time during the day with him which has clearly upset her daily routine. Did I mention by Mums on holiday too which has also knocked Munchy for six-because she was used to seeing Nanoo everyday as we live together.
So routines-I love them. Some on the other hand think it's more natural for a child to carve their own routine. That's fine-I believe a good routine is a balance of both. What I cannot understand is the Mother nature types that look down on Mummies like me who bottle fed. I bottle fed Munchy with good reason. Lack of milk, and then a lactose intolerance plus reflux made it a sensible option for us as a family. God knows I tried with the whole Breastfeeding thing but it didn't work for me.
Although most tried to understand Munchy and my dilemma, some did have the nerve to look down their nose at me as 'I should know better as I have worked under Children and Young Peoples Services' so understand the government is 'pushing' breastfeeding. That's all good and well however mums and other folk need to understand judging others won't do you any good as a person will it?
Oh talking of judging, when Munchy was born she had bad reflux which I basically self-diagnosed and then after many visits to the GP and out of hours service got an official diagnosis. Oh where was I, oh yes when Munchy was born she was fair better taking a nap in my arms than lying down (of course reflux doesn't help this-plus a newborn doesn't take to be away from Mama anyhow). So I used to hold her as much as she needed really as did Mum and husband however my FIL's aunt by marriage told me not to hold her as much as I was creating a rod for my own back. How lovely. There was this old lady who could have taken the opportunity to give her pearls of wisdom instead I got told off for holding my baby.
I carried on holding my baby and 16 months later Munchy chooses if she wants to give a cuddle or kiss-so I am grateful for those cuddles I had then because pinning Munchy down now is near impossible (unless she wants a cuddle-which isn't really that often).
My pearls of wisdom to any new mummy out there potentially reading this is you are the best judge of what is good for your child. If something doesn't feel right, say so. If you want to bottle feed and not breastfeed then that's YOUR call. Remember there are women out there who smoke throughout their pregnancies-the busy bodies telling you to breastfeed if you don't want to should be directed in their direction. Breastfeeding is the most natural way of feeding a baby however it's not always possible (look at my situation above).
Babies don't come with a manual but if they did lets be honest-not many of us would follow the words down a T would we?
Right time for me to dash-Munchy could do with a Nap and I could do with painting the kitchen Berry Pink. Maybe I should put photos up on here of my designed kitchen to have you all mark it out of 10?
You see I just all the stuff around the house that needs doing finished so Munchy can mooch around without the danger of power tools lurching around every corner. However the problem is none of the work seems near completion and quite frankly I'm losing my patience (shock horror, a woman is losing her patience-get over it men).
Because the truth of the matter is our house has looked like a work in progress since 2009 and all I want now it a house that is a home where I can have play dates for Munchy and be able to relax. I don't think that's asking for too much.
Perhaps the fact I am thinking about how all this work is effecting Munchy is stressing me more? Her nap routine has disappeared (oh God please return it to us) and her night time sleeping is just as bad if not worse now because she isn't eating properly during the day thus needs milk at night. Plus she's abandoned her cot. And when she gets upset she wants DADDY! I think that's to do with the work too-as the husband has been spending time with the workmen Munchy has also been tagging along and spending time during the day with him which has clearly upset her daily routine. Did I mention by Mums on holiday too which has also knocked Munchy for six-because she was used to seeing Nanoo everyday as we live together.
So routines-I love them. Some on the other hand think it's more natural for a child to carve their own routine. That's fine-I believe a good routine is a balance of both. What I cannot understand is the Mother nature types that look down on Mummies like me who bottle fed. I bottle fed Munchy with good reason. Lack of milk, and then a lactose intolerance plus reflux made it a sensible option for us as a family. God knows I tried with the whole Breastfeeding thing but it didn't work for me.
Although most tried to understand Munchy and my dilemma, some did have the nerve to look down their nose at me as 'I should know better as I have worked under Children and Young Peoples Services' so understand the government is 'pushing' breastfeeding. That's all good and well however mums and other folk need to understand judging others won't do you any good as a person will it?
Oh talking of judging, when Munchy was born she had bad reflux which I basically self-diagnosed and then after many visits to the GP and out of hours service got an official diagnosis. Oh where was I, oh yes when Munchy was born she was fair better taking a nap in my arms than lying down (of course reflux doesn't help this-plus a newborn doesn't take to be away from Mama anyhow). So I used to hold her as much as she needed really as did Mum and husband however my FIL's aunt by marriage told me not to hold her as much as I was creating a rod for my own back. How lovely. There was this old lady who could have taken the opportunity to give her pearls of wisdom instead I got told off for holding my baby.
I carried on holding my baby and 16 months later Munchy chooses if she wants to give a cuddle or kiss-so I am grateful for those cuddles I had then because pinning Munchy down now is near impossible (unless she wants a cuddle-which isn't really that often).
My pearls of wisdom to any new mummy out there potentially reading this is you are the best judge of what is good for your child. If something doesn't feel right, say so. If you want to bottle feed and not breastfeed then that's YOUR call. Remember there are women out there who smoke throughout their pregnancies-the busy bodies telling you to breastfeed if you don't want to should be directed in their direction. Breastfeeding is the most natural way of feeding a baby however it's not always possible (look at my situation above).
Babies don't come with a manual but if they did lets be honest-not many of us would follow the words down a T would we?
Right time for me to dash-Munchy could do with a Nap and I could do with painting the kitchen Berry Pink. Maybe I should put photos up on here of my designed kitchen to have you all mark it out of 10?
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
The misconception that house mums do nothing all day-I have news for you all!
So whilst Munchy takes a nap I thought I would write today's blog entry.
Today I want to talk about the misconception by non-stay at home parents that all we lucky things do is:
So what does the stay-at-home Mama really do all day? Here's a look at a one day in the life of a SAHM:
7AM-wake up and get self ready before...
8AM-Munchy wakes up-get Munchy ready and give her breakfast
9-12PM-Play time, watch a bit of Disney, consider a bit of art and crafts take a walk to the park or possibly go a soft play centre.
12NOON-lunch (reheated leftovers from last night, or a sandwich for munch)
12:30-2:30 (ideally) nap for Munchy. This time is used doing things like ironing, cooking etc
2:30-Munchy up, load washing machine
3-4:45PM playtime (fit in a small walk to the shops, or to the park)
5:15PM-cook dinner
6PM-Munchys dads home & dinner time
6:45PM-Munchy chats with her daddy and plays a little while
7:PM bedtime routine starts with changing clothes
7:50-8PM Munchy in bed
8-11PM-I sort out laundry, clean up after Munchy, have a cuppa tea, sort out Munchys stuff, plan the next day, have a short chat with Munchys dad. I also use this time to do all projects around the house including painting and D.I.Y chores.
11PM-try to go bed!
11:15PM-Munchy wakes up for 2oz of milk (when will this stop?!)
11:30PM-fall asleep (finally)
3:30AM-Munchy up for another small drink (come on Munchy you don't need these small drinks anymore!)
7AM-the bedlam starts again!
So will someone please explain where the glamour is and where I have the free time to do leisurely things?
I am content with my life and know whilst Munchy is little life will be constantly on the go. I have HAPPY with that. I struggled the first year because I wanted the parenting lifestyle shown in the books and quite frankly that was unrealistic.
Life is what you make it!
Okay rant over, subject parked, will return to it later.
So what's new scoobie-doo?
We are currently having a new Kitchen fitted which we purchased at IKEA-at the moment I would not recommend IKEA as they quite frankly suck! However I am hoping they man up and fix their wrongs so I can post a positive report on my experience with them for you. Finding a kitchen that's affordable and practical took so long I was beginning to wonder if one existed. You see when you become a SAHM you understandably become a one income family. You go from being dinky (double income no kids yet) to double expenses single income. So every penny counts. And because you are at home you tend to look at ways of saving money.
I spent 35 minutes on the phone the other day (freephone thank God!) haggling with my insurance broker to get the price down by £60.00. In the end they agreed because I was happy to take business elsewhere. Plus I try and cook meals from scratch, in a jiffy as lets face it ready meals are not only expensive the e-numbers alone are scary and not suitable for Munchy. Plus I was Munchy to be exposed to all sorts of cook. Munchy loves Channa daal with roti-a 16 month old who knows what she likes. Now before mothers out there start bashing me about giving a child chillies let me clarify something:
the food I cook at home is modified to Munchys palette-we don't use chili powder, and the other spices used e.g. coriander seeds are crushed at home so we know what's in the blend rather than buying something pre ground off the shelf. Oil is controlled too as is salt. We are all happy with the situation so to all the Asian mums out there who say Asian food isn't suitable for toddlers get a grip!
So I think that's enough of a rant now. As Munchys dad has come home for lunch Munchy has decided against a long nap-hurrah (nnnnnnnnoooooooooooo) so I need to go fix lunch.
So in a nutshell I know how lucky and blessed I am to be able to spend everyday with my child. What my life isn't is a day full of coffee days, trips to spend loads of money and so on and so on. What my life is quite frankly is a full time job looking after Munchy, her dad and the household in general. Anyone who has looked after a child with a lactose intolerance and reflux for 10 months of their lives will understand parenting is not plain sailing and the judgement cast by others on your life don't do you any favours. If anything you become more depressed wondering if anyone is living such a glamorous life.
When life gives you lemons make lemon cheesecake! When life throws you a dodge ball, pick yourself up and carry on walking. And when life is like a steep mountain break up the climb into bite size manageable pieces.
Life is what you make it!
How many of you plan meals in advance? I've started it and it seems to be working (and to be honest it's quite exciting for this food nut to know what she is cooking during the week!).
Today I want to talk about the misconception by non-stay at home parents that all we lucky things do is:
- go out to coffee all day
- go on play dates
- lounge around because we don't have a real job
So what does the stay-at-home Mama really do all day? Here's a look at a one day in the life of a SAHM:
7AM-wake up and get self ready before...
8AM-Munchy wakes up-get Munchy ready and give her breakfast
9-12PM-Play time, watch a bit of Disney, consider a bit of art and crafts take a walk to the park or possibly go a soft play centre.
12NOON-lunch (reheated leftovers from last night, or a sandwich for munch)
12:30-2:30 (ideally) nap for Munchy. This time is used doing things like ironing, cooking etc
2:30-Munchy up, load washing machine
3-4:45PM playtime (fit in a small walk to the shops, or to the park)
5:15PM-cook dinner
6PM-Munchys dads home & dinner time
6:45PM-Munchy chats with her daddy and plays a little while
7:PM bedtime routine starts with changing clothes
7:50-8PM Munchy in bed
8-11PM-I sort out laundry, clean up after Munchy, have a cuppa tea, sort out Munchys stuff, plan the next day, have a short chat with Munchys dad. I also use this time to do all projects around the house including painting and D.I.Y chores.
11PM-try to go bed!
11:15PM-Munchy wakes up for 2oz of milk (when will this stop?!)
11:30PM-fall asleep (finally)
3:30AM-Munchy up for another small drink (come on Munchy you don't need these small drinks anymore!)
7AM-the bedlam starts again!
So will someone please explain where the glamour is and where I have the free time to do leisurely things?
I am content with my life and know whilst Munchy is little life will be constantly on the go. I have HAPPY with that. I struggled the first year because I wanted the parenting lifestyle shown in the books and quite frankly that was unrealistic.
Life is what you make it!
Okay rant over, subject parked, will return to it later.
So what's new scoobie-doo?
We are currently having a new Kitchen fitted which we purchased at IKEA-at the moment I would not recommend IKEA as they quite frankly suck! However I am hoping they man up and fix their wrongs so I can post a positive report on my experience with them for you. Finding a kitchen that's affordable and practical took so long I was beginning to wonder if one existed. You see when you become a SAHM you understandably become a one income family. You go from being dinky (double income no kids yet) to double expenses single income. So every penny counts. And because you are at home you tend to look at ways of saving money.
I spent 35 minutes on the phone the other day (freephone thank God!) haggling with my insurance broker to get the price down by £60.00. In the end they agreed because I was happy to take business elsewhere. Plus I try and cook meals from scratch, in a jiffy as lets face it ready meals are not only expensive the e-numbers alone are scary and not suitable for Munchy. Plus I was Munchy to be exposed to all sorts of cook. Munchy loves Channa daal with roti-a 16 month old who knows what she likes. Now before mothers out there start bashing me about giving a child chillies let me clarify something:
the food I cook at home is modified to Munchys palette-we don't use chili powder, and the other spices used e.g. coriander seeds are crushed at home so we know what's in the blend rather than buying something pre ground off the shelf. Oil is controlled too as is salt. We are all happy with the situation so to all the Asian mums out there who say Asian food isn't suitable for toddlers get a grip!
So I think that's enough of a rant now. As Munchys dad has come home for lunch Munchy has decided against a long nap-hurrah (nnnnnnnnoooooooooooo) so I need to go fix lunch.
So in a nutshell I know how lucky and blessed I am to be able to spend everyday with my child. What my life isn't is a day full of coffee days, trips to spend loads of money and so on and so on. What my life is quite frankly is a full time job looking after Munchy, her dad and the household in general. Anyone who has looked after a child with a lactose intolerance and reflux for 10 months of their lives will understand parenting is not plain sailing and the judgement cast by others on your life don't do you any favours. If anything you become more depressed wondering if anyone is living such a glamorous life.
When life gives you lemons make lemon cheesecake! When life throws you a dodge ball, pick yourself up and carry on walking. And when life is like a steep mountain break up the climb into bite size manageable pieces.
Life is what you make it!
How many of you plan meals in advance? I've started it and it seems to be working (and to be honest it's quite exciting for this food nut to know what she is cooking during the week!).
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