to let my kids try out beds with their shoes on in Ikea?

[firsttimetwins]

We were in Ikea today because we need beds for the kids. My daughters (5) wanted to take their shoes off to try out the display beds (not just the matresses, the actual beds, so some had duvets etc. on them) but I asked them to keep them on. I wasn't sure exactly what was best, but in the end my thinking was that we would either lose the shoes or someone would trip over them, plus to be honest I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. Then, when one of my daughters was trying out a bed, an older woman came past and snapped at my daughter (not to me) "You've got your outdoor shoes on! You can't do that!" I responded to the woman myself, saying that I had told my daughter to keep them on because I felt that the store expects the exhibition furniture to get dirty. I was cross about the fact that the woman spoke angrily to my daughter, especially given that she had wanted to take her shoes off in the first place and I'm not having her feel that she got a row from a stranger because of my poor decision-making, but I don't know whether we were in fact in the wrong. So I'm looking for opinions on furniture-testing etiquette, I guess (the fact that I was raging with the woman is another thing altogether...)

Really? Wow. YABU.

Yabu!!!!!

Of course you were in the wrong. Do you really need to ask?

YABU

So would you all take your shoes off when trying out beds in Ikea then? Really? I wouldn't have asked if I didn't need to ask...

YABU

You could have held the shoes or put them in a place where no-one would trip over them.

Why does everyone claim someone 'snapped' or 'spoke angrily', just because they don't like their poor behaviour being picked up on?

You are not meant to try out the beds, they have an area with the mattresses displayed for trying. The beds are a display. Did you try to cook your dinner in the display kitchen?

The mattresses for trying are bare or have that plastic over the bottom so you can test them whilst still wearing shoes.

Yabu and should be embarrassed that somebody else needed to teach you some manners. Just because it isn't yours you don't treat something with respect?

I didn't want to try the mattresses, I wanted to try the beds. Would you buy a bed you have never tried lying on? But that's fair enough, now I know! (I guess you don't open and close the drawers in a display kitchen before you buy it either...)

I hope you didn't take a shit in the bathroom display.

A bed is a bed - you don't need to try it, it's the mattress that makes the difference!

"would you all take your shoes off when trying out beds in Ikea then?"

Not sure what it being Ikea has to do with it. I'd always take my shoes off when trying out a bed unless it had a protective strip over the foot end (that's what our local bed/mattress store has).

Really very bizarre to let your kids wear their shoes to climb on a display bed with a duvet on. Why couldn't you have put them in one of those yellow bags they hand out?

Also, my problem with the woman was not that she was annoyed that my daughter had her shoes on (as I stated in the post). It was because I felt it unfair that a five-year-old should get into trouble for (and I quote) "my poor decision-making"

Firsttimetwins - look at this from the shop's point of view, for a moment. If everyone tried out the beds with their outdoor shoes on, the bedding/mattresses would very quickly become dirty and scruffy-looking, and that will put off potential customers. They cannot continually replace the mattress/bedding, because that costs money.

You could have tucked your children's shoes away under the bed they were trying, or you could have carried them yourself. Why should,the shop end up with a spoiled display because you can't be bothered to do this?

I would never let my children clamber on soft furnishings with their shoes on. Anywhere.

I also don't get furious when people speak to my children though

Bed frames don't need trying. They are what they are quite visibly. Mattresses can be tried separately and have appropriate coverings or are bare.

In fairness, though, the lady should have addressed you directly, not your child.

I assume you would have responded politely to her.

Really?

But your 5 year old did get "into trouble" because of your poor decision making. Did you apologise to your dd?

. It was because I felt it unfair that a five-year-old should get into trouble for (and I quote) "my poor decision-making"

Hence you should apologise to your child - or trace the woman and explain it was your fault - whatever...

SDTG, thank you. That was what I was looking for and was helpful.

I did apologise to my DD, yes.

YWBU.

Did the woman know that you were the child's parent though? Maybe she didn't know which person to address so went and told the child off directly. She probably assumed that had the parent been aware that their child had their shoes on in the bed that they would have already dealt with the situation so therefore the parent must be absent?