Naming a child-Trendy or Traditional?
So call me old fashioned but I dislike the trend of names that basically can be googled to reveal when a child was born. The idea of calling my child Banana, Syrup, Kryptonite, Hashtag or SMS freaks me out in a bad way. Do these parents understand the amount of jokes that will be made about their child or the potential opportunities of bullying? However most parents that name their child an unusual name expect their child to grow into the name and have a strong backbone in terms of how they deal with others-okay I get it. You are trying to create a strong personality for your child. But really? That name?
Celebrities of course want their child to be an individual and want the column inches in the print media so an ‘unusual’ name will do the trick. Why would you the average parent want to call your child after a brand? Or worst still your favourite motor? I mean Porsche?! Really?! Apple anyone?
Now trendy names get under my skin; and I make no apology for it. When my little girl was born I had an old Islamic name (similar to a Biblical name) for her. It had meaning, it had grace. It would stick out and would be easy to pronounce. Yes people may not be able to automatically guess her ethnic origin but why should that put me off?
But whilst I had an old name with zest sorted my in-laws based in Pakistan had other ideas. They suggested names that went through me like nails on a chalkboard. I wanted to scream the Hospital room down. I had just gone through a traumatic birth and my in-laws didn’t like my name because ‘a family friends granddaughter has the same name’ and ‘it’s an OLD name’. Oh my apologies Mother-in-Law; I shall consult someone and ask them to revamp a 1430 years plus religion and come up with meaningful names that are new and fit in with your artificial pride. No one really wanted to listen to me and I ended up comprising on my little ones middle name to keep all the backward thinking people happy. It still upsets me that people can make such a pure and innocent moment dark and gloomy.
I did worry about naming my daughter a name that has deep roots in religion; however my worry was short lived. As soon as I told my friends her name everyone was happy and supportive. Those who had no knowledge of Arabic names were able to pronounce her name easily which was what we wanted considering our child is growing up in the West and we cannot expect teachers to learn all accents and develop a knowledge on worldly names.
I did have an interesting conversation with my Mothers cousin. He thought we had named our child after a food company. When we explained the difference he soon changed his tune.
My in-laws were never happy, and still are not. They actually call our little girl by her middle name. I guess that’s them giving me the finger. Oh well.
So what is wrong with old Biblical names or the Quranic version? I mean what’s wrong with the name Eesa (arabic of Jesus). The man stood up to bullies like no ones business. And Musa (arabic of Moses) I mean some on; he parted the red sea with his hands! Okay so it’s mainly boys names and the only biblical girls names that spring to mind are Eve and Mary. But their are plenty of girls names that are steeped in tradition and sound good too.
What about Eva, Maria, Olivia, Penelope, Eve, Belle and Tabitha? All these names are pretty and yes old fashioned but at least they are not names randomly picked from a dictionary. They all have meaning and are either traditional or religious. But that doesn’t make them bad. And there is certainly no need to be ashamed about giving your child such a name.
Luckily during 2012 in the UK we saw a trend in naming that involved giving children names that were indeed old fashioned but pretty/handsome all the same. These included Isabella, Grace and Alice. For boys names such as Harry, Jack and Oliver. These names make me want to swoon over little bundles of joy. Such nice names.
However amongst a large group of Pakistanis the names that are currently trending include Anjalie, Manoor, Zain and Arooj. Both modern, and to some extent are universal and yes indeedy fashionable. Naming children after characters of the latest drama on Geo/Star Plus is also a favourable way of picking a name. It degrading in my opinion for a child to be named after a soap opera character. Now naming your child after a literary hero in my opinion is acceptable if they have a name that is ‘easy to digest’. Harry for example (as in Harry Potter) is fully acceptable. Christian Grey? No thank you; we seriously don’t need our babies reminded of them being a part of a certain ‘baby boom’.
I have been lectured many times on how women in the West blur the lines of religion and don’t understand our religious duties thus we look for a career and want it all. What we do understand is one of the first responsibilities of a Muslim parent is to give their child a pious name that has meaning. A name is something that will follow a child throughout life. They will of course be known by it. Why would you not wish to give your child their first right in favour of a name you’ve heard on TV? This is life; not a screenplay and we are not Shakespeare; any name we give will stick with a child throughout life unless they become a big celebrity and change their name to Tomato Ketchup-well you never know do you?
I just hope my little girl realises how hard it is to name a child with a name that fits their personality before they are actually a fully grown person. Lucky for us our child is growing into her name and we are so grateful for that; her name is not only beautiful but it’s connected to the Revelation of Islam. It’s a big hearty name which we hope our little girl enjoys being called and doesn’t regret the fact we turned down a list of names that would have screamed ‘baby of 2010’. So as we prepare for baby number two; the quest is on for a name that will be fit for them. Any suggestions welcome but if you suggest a name that is trendy, I will not be held responsible for my actions.
Showing posts with label bad experience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bad experience. Show all posts
Saturday, 9 February 2013
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Reflux-from the POV of a parent who survived it
Firstly I'd just like to apoligise to the regular readers over my month long absence. For this there are two reasons: illness and I was busy working on my first Novel and well needed to get so much typed up I didn't get round to blogging. However I am now back, even though I am still busy working on other books. No rest for the wicked.
Although my little one is two, her baby days are still fresh in my head and I hope this doesn’t change as years go by. My little blessing was born at 38 weeks via C-section. It was a complicated birth but the outcome was positive-a healthy baby girl.
Due to some complications my little one was put on antibiotics as soon as she was born. It was heartbreaking and a testing time to see a little baby having an iv line put in but she needed it. She managed to rip out the one in her hand; so the staff had to reinsert it into her foot to prevent further incidents.
After an extended stay in Hospital (I had an emergency C-section, followed by complications, followed by two blood transfusions plus little one had complications too) we made it home. Unfortunately the path wasn’t yet smooth and we soon started to notice that our little girl wouldn’t take the recommended amount of milk, she threw most of her feeds up, and she cried a lot too as if she was in discomfort.
Now as a new parent what a lot of parents do is google symptoms and panic. However this gets you nowhere at all; in fact most medical professionals will tell you that all is normal, your child is just settling etc etc.
I decided to invest in a few books about sleep and sleeping patterns. I like my sleep; but then who doesn’t. I came across a chapter or three on what can effect a child’s sleep. Now to say my little one was a very bad unpredictable sleeper was an understatement. We couldn’t get her to sleep. She’d cry most of the time. It was exhausting and a very testing time.
So I joined online parenting forums, read medical articles and books to find out what was happening to my three week old. It took approximately three weeks of research and five trips to out of hours medical service (it’s the out of hours GP service ran by the NHS) before a diagnosis was made. The diagnosis that was made was:
Lactose intolerance: the name of a condition whereby the person is unable to digest the sugars (lactose) found in milk and other dairy products (but not necessarily all)
Reflux: also know as Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD (the more popular name for it in the States). It’s basically a chronic condition whereby acid travels from the stomach up the throat-often for babies resulting in projectile vomiting.
Now I am aware of parents who struggled for much longer to get their child’s condition looked at and diagnosed. What helped me was the following which I hope someone will find useful and help them out too:
We did the above observations over a few days. We had been told it was colic but no colic treatments worked, but as many parents will tell you our gut instinct wasn’t happy with that. I felt my child had a Lactose intolerance and Reflux but I needed a medical professional to help us.
After we visited the GP who applauded our note making (as it did help him notice a pattern) we were sent to the local Hospitals Children’s Ward where the staff looked at the notes and the amount of times we had visited out GP and out of hours service. We kept our Health Visitor in the ‘loop’ too as she was a great help and actively supported our mission to get our little one seen and diagnosed as soon as possible.
The Hospital Registrar signed off a prescription of lactose free milk and a diagnosis of Lactose intolerance and Reflux was made. Our little one took an instant dislike to the milk (it smelt like vinegar) so we went back to the GP and a few calls later and little one was put onto Wysoy milk. And would you believe as soon as little one tasted it she was able to take slightly bigger feeds and the projectile vomiting ceased?
It just shows that doing your own research properly can actually help you to understand the medical problem and help you get a quicker response from your medical team.
Throughout our little ones progress we were given support by a Dietician-also via the NHS. She was the biggest help possible especially around Weaning time. In this day and age a dairy-free diet isn’t a curse; there are plenty of alternatives on the market. We are blessed. Plus how many times do you hear from a medical professional that they give you the green light to feed your child chocolate desserts if that’s what makes them happy?
Our little one still has Wysoy milk although we are gradually introducing diary products whilst monitoring her. So far we’ve been happy with the outcome-our little one hasn’t had any reactions which means her lactose intolerance is indeed fading. We were told by our Dietician that most children (not all!) grow out of Lactose Intolerance by School age so we were prepared for either or really.
So to recap Lactose is the sugar found in milk thus in cheese and yogurt. Not all of us are able to digest it and develop problems as my little girl did.
Reflux is to sum it up when acid in the stomach doesn’t allow your food/drink to be digested and throws it back up (with babies it’s usually projectile vomiting). It is controlled with various medication however dosages usually change as a baby/toddler gains weight. Most babies grow out of it as they start to walk as their upright position helps the acid stay down.
These of course are very simple explanations, if you use google you will get greatly detailed descriptions of both. If you are a parent just getting the hang of both I suggest you read up on a detailed report, and go from there. The more knowledge you have the better.
If you are dealing with reflux here is my advice; from a Mother that has dealt with the issue.
If your child is on medical to combat the reflux STAY on top of the dosages. If you notice that the vomiting is returning tell your GP as soon as possible; it maybe a simple case that your child has gained weight and needs their dosage reviewed. My little one was on the following: Gaviscon infant (to thicken the milk), Domperidone which helped speed up the process of digestion and the emptying of the stomach, and Ranitidine which in essence stopped the production of acid. Combined these medications helped our little one thrive. She’s a happy and healthy two year old so it shows that medical professionals know what they are doing and sometimes we do need to give our children a cocktail of drugs if we want to sort out a medical issue.
Babies hate being sick and once they are sick a few times they develop a fear of sickness and will only take small feeds-this is normal for a child with Reflux. Smaller dosages stay down easier for them. You will find that your baby has more frequent yet smaller feeds compared to a child who doesn’t have Reflux-relax there’s nothing to worry about.
Babies like being upright; you will find that a baby suffering from Reflux doesn’t want to be on their stomach. We avoided ‘tummy time’ activities.
Weaning will help your baby; your Dietician will help you with this. Sometimes early Weaning is recommended. Not a problem as long as you are all happy with the situation.
ALWAYS keep Health Visitors and other professionals in the ‘loop’ on developments. All Hospitals (as far as I am aware) inform your GP of visits to out of hour service visits; sometimes they will even give you a letter to pass onto your GP with an update. This is all good as the more up to date the team are around your child the less likely they are to either repeatedly ask questions.
Reflux babies hate sleeping on a flat surface. This is easily dealt with by either:
Propping up your child’s cot (with reliable props) at one end to create a slight angle OR
Using a ‘wedge’ pillow support. You can buy these online and they basically go under the fitted sheet directly on the mattress creating a 45 degree angle elevating your little ones head which in turn helps the acid stay down.
Your little one may struggle with sleeping especially the concept of ‘sleeping through the night’ you may find the sleeping books out there are wasted on your little one. Please don’t panic. My two year old still wakes at night. At first I’d cry and cry and cry about it. Now I’ve grown accustomed to it. Not all children are the same; authors often forget this. PLEASE don’t fall for the trap of comparing your child to someone else’s perfect angel who eats three times a day, takes full feeds and has slept threw the night since he was 6 months old. Your child has a medical condition and needs you to be strong and supportive not a critical eye.
Swings are a favourite toy-they gently lull a child whilst in the upright position. You may find your little one naps in this position. If this is the case speak to your health visitor and discuss if there is any harm in this.
Enjoy your baby-take them to the park, join a playgroup etc etc. Don’t let the fear of accidentally giving them a dairy produce destroy your precious time together. It’s not worth it; if you do join a baby group you’ll find staff will ask you about medical conditions and intolerance-these days we are all aware of how many health problems bundles of joy come with. We are more medically aware than we were back in 1913.
Your ‘gut feeling’ as a parent is often a signal there is something wrong. A GP won’t really take this as something to start alarm bells ringing, however if you do your research and prove that you know what you are on about and you simply haven’t pulled a medical term out of a dictionary.
Breastfeeding and reflux-this is a big kettle of fish I don’t want to discuss however I will say this-if you are breastfeeding and your child develops symptoms it maybe time for Mama to look at her own diet and consider non-lactose milk. Speak to a professional and do your own educated research.
REMEMBER-you are not alone.If you don’t have family to support you join an online parenting forum and soon you will have more family virtually then you know what to do with. Online communities provide support that is priceless.
Although my little one is two, her baby days are still fresh in my head and I hope this doesn’t change as years go by. My little blessing was born at 38 weeks via C-section. It was a complicated birth but the outcome was positive-a healthy baby girl.
Due to some complications my little one was put on antibiotics as soon as she was born. It was heartbreaking and a testing time to see a little baby having an iv line put in but she needed it. She managed to rip out the one in her hand; so the staff had to reinsert it into her foot to prevent further incidents.
After an extended stay in Hospital (I had an emergency C-section, followed by complications, followed by two blood transfusions plus little one had complications too) we made it home. Unfortunately the path wasn’t yet smooth and we soon started to notice that our little girl wouldn’t take the recommended amount of milk, she threw most of her feeds up, and she cried a lot too as if she was in discomfort.
Now as a new parent what a lot of parents do is google symptoms and panic. However this gets you nowhere at all; in fact most medical professionals will tell you that all is normal, your child is just settling etc etc.
I decided to invest in a few books about sleep and sleeping patterns. I like my sleep; but then who doesn’t. I came across a chapter or three on what can effect a child’s sleep. Now to say my little one was a very bad unpredictable sleeper was an understatement. We couldn’t get her to sleep. She’d cry most of the time. It was exhausting and a very testing time.
So I joined online parenting forums, read medical articles and books to find out what was happening to my three week old. It took approximately three weeks of research and five trips to out of hours medical service (it’s the out of hours GP service ran by the NHS) before a diagnosis was made. The diagnosis that was made was:
Lactose intolerance: the name of a condition whereby the person is unable to digest the sugars (lactose) found in milk and other dairy products (but not necessarily all)
Reflux: also know as Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD (the more popular name for it in the States). It’s basically a chronic condition whereby acid travels from the stomach up the throat-often for babies resulting in projectile vomiting.
Now I am aware of parents who struggled for much longer to get their child’s condition looked at and diagnosed. What helped me was the following which I hope someone will find useful and help them out too:
- We noted down all feeds, the amounts, her reaction and how long it took her to bring up her feed. We also noted what the feed looked like (e.g. curdled)
- We noted down wet nappies
- Her behavior
- Any sleep and how she liked to sleep
- Other symptoms e.g. stomach cramps, upset stomach
- (Anything else that we thought was of interest to a medical professional-including the parents medical history
We did the above observations over a few days. We had been told it was colic but no colic treatments worked, but as many parents will tell you our gut instinct wasn’t happy with that. I felt my child had a Lactose intolerance and Reflux but I needed a medical professional to help us.
After we visited the GP who applauded our note making (as it did help him notice a pattern) we were sent to the local Hospitals Children’s Ward where the staff looked at the notes and the amount of times we had visited out GP and out of hours service. We kept our Health Visitor in the ‘loop’ too as she was a great help and actively supported our mission to get our little one seen and diagnosed as soon as possible.
The Hospital Registrar signed off a prescription of lactose free milk and a diagnosis of Lactose intolerance and Reflux was made. Our little one took an instant dislike to the milk (it smelt like vinegar) so we went back to the GP and a few calls later and little one was put onto Wysoy milk. And would you believe as soon as little one tasted it she was able to take slightly bigger feeds and the projectile vomiting ceased?
It just shows that doing your own research properly can actually help you to understand the medical problem and help you get a quicker response from your medical team.
Throughout our little ones progress we were given support by a Dietician-also via the NHS. She was the biggest help possible especially around Weaning time. In this day and age a dairy-free diet isn’t a curse; there are plenty of alternatives on the market. We are blessed. Plus how many times do you hear from a medical professional that they give you the green light to feed your child chocolate desserts if that’s what makes them happy?
Our little one still has Wysoy milk although we are gradually introducing diary products whilst monitoring her. So far we’ve been happy with the outcome-our little one hasn’t had any reactions which means her lactose intolerance is indeed fading. We were told by our Dietician that most children (not all!) grow out of Lactose Intolerance by School age so we were prepared for either or really.
So to recap Lactose is the sugar found in milk thus in cheese and yogurt. Not all of us are able to digest it and develop problems as my little girl did.
Reflux is to sum it up when acid in the stomach doesn’t allow your food/drink to be digested and throws it back up (with babies it’s usually projectile vomiting). It is controlled with various medication however dosages usually change as a baby/toddler gains weight. Most babies grow out of it as they start to walk as their upright position helps the acid stay down.
These of course are very simple explanations, if you use google you will get greatly detailed descriptions of both. If you are a parent just getting the hang of both I suggest you read up on a detailed report, and go from there. The more knowledge you have the better.
If you are dealing with reflux here is my advice; from a Mother that has dealt with the issue.
If your child is on medical to combat the reflux STAY on top of the dosages. If you notice that the vomiting is returning tell your GP as soon as possible; it maybe a simple case that your child has gained weight and needs their dosage reviewed. My little one was on the following: Gaviscon infant (to thicken the milk), Domperidone which helped speed up the process of digestion and the emptying of the stomach, and Ranitidine which in essence stopped the production of acid. Combined these medications helped our little one thrive. She’s a happy and healthy two year old so it shows that medical professionals know what they are doing and sometimes we do need to give our children a cocktail of drugs if we want to sort out a medical issue.
Babies hate being sick and once they are sick a few times they develop a fear of sickness and will only take small feeds-this is normal for a child with Reflux. Smaller dosages stay down easier for them. You will find that your baby has more frequent yet smaller feeds compared to a child who doesn’t have Reflux-relax there’s nothing to worry about.
Babies like being upright; you will find that a baby suffering from Reflux doesn’t want to be on their stomach. We avoided ‘tummy time’ activities.
Weaning will help your baby; your Dietician will help you with this. Sometimes early Weaning is recommended. Not a problem as long as you are all happy with the situation.
ALWAYS keep Health Visitors and other professionals in the ‘loop’ on developments. All Hospitals (as far as I am aware) inform your GP of visits to out of hour service visits; sometimes they will even give you a letter to pass onto your GP with an update. This is all good as the more up to date the team are around your child the less likely they are to either repeatedly ask questions.
Reflux babies hate sleeping on a flat surface. This is easily dealt with by either:
Propping up your child’s cot (with reliable props) at one end to create a slight angle OR
Using a ‘wedge’ pillow support. You can buy these online and they basically go under the fitted sheet directly on the mattress creating a 45 degree angle elevating your little ones head which in turn helps the acid stay down.
Your little one may struggle with sleeping especially the concept of ‘sleeping through the night’ you may find the sleeping books out there are wasted on your little one. Please don’t panic. My two year old still wakes at night. At first I’d cry and cry and cry about it. Now I’ve grown accustomed to it. Not all children are the same; authors often forget this. PLEASE don’t fall for the trap of comparing your child to someone else’s perfect angel who eats three times a day, takes full feeds and has slept threw the night since he was 6 months old. Your child has a medical condition and needs you to be strong and supportive not a critical eye.
Swings are a favourite toy-they gently lull a child whilst in the upright position. You may find your little one naps in this position. If this is the case speak to your health visitor and discuss if there is any harm in this.
Enjoy your baby-take them to the park, join a playgroup etc etc. Don’t let the fear of accidentally giving them a dairy produce destroy your precious time together. It’s not worth it; if you do join a baby group you’ll find staff will ask you about medical conditions and intolerance-these days we are all aware of how many health problems bundles of joy come with. We are more medically aware than we were back in 1913.
Your ‘gut feeling’ as a parent is often a signal there is something wrong. A GP won’t really take this as something to start alarm bells ringing, however if you do your research and prove that you know what you are on about and you simply haven’t pulled a medical term out of a dictionary.
Breastfeeding and reflux-this is a big kettle of fish I don’t want to discuss however I will say this-if you are breastfeeding and your child develops symptoms it maybe time for Mama to look at her own diet and consider non-lactose milk. Speak to a professional and do your own educated research.
REMEMBER-you are not alone.If you don’t have family to support you join an online parenting forum and soon you will have more family virtually then you know what to do with. Online communities provide support that is priceless.
Thursday, 19 April 2012
IKEA-funky looking kitchens which leave a bitter after taste in your mouth :-(
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?
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?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)