AIBU to think IKEA is a top parenting hack?

[Wallasey123]

DS2 is 3 and we went to IKEA yesterday not because we needed anything but just to get out of the house (and tbh I couldn’t face soft play).

He ran around loads, looked at all the rooms, climbed on the sofas and beds and I didn’t need to be on red alert every second like I am at the park.

I don’t know why I’d never considered it as a day out before! I think when it’s too busy it’s prob not great but we went at opening time and it was great. Also obvs helps that there’s something in it for me - I get to mooch, get ideas and pretend I’m being productive.

Ofc ended up buying a few bits and pieces and hotdogs in the end but I feel like I’ve provided an enriching outing, even though I mostly just walked in circles looking at storage 😅

Any other unexpected places that are actually fun for kids AND adults (and don’t cost the earth) that I might not have considered?

myself and another poster bought up that we use crutches, and in our respective IKEA, both of us have experienced been run into by small children running riot.

I wasn't having a go at the OP, i was simply mentioning that i wish there was less 'running around' between the displays. There are a few parents in these places who do not give a fuck, don't control their kids, and make it a hazard for people like me.

I'm not generally being run over by people with trolleys, adults on a whole will also apologise if they do accidentally catch my crutches don't spot them when i'm standing there leaning on them while the person i'm with is looking at something.. kids don't... and nor do their parents.

We put the kids in the trolleys - that will make some posters here have a heart attack from clutching their pearls so hard!

When mine were small and we had nothing to do I’d take them on the train. Just walked down to the train station and got on the first train that came along, and would go a stop or two wherever it was going. It may not have been anywhere exciting but they loved exploring somewhere different, going to a park that wasn’t their usual one, maybe getting an ice cream then going back home. Just being on the train was an adventure for them. So not completely free but would only cost a few pounds.

Not superior no - just a boring parent! You need to give Ikea hide and seek ago.

Stop being a silly sausage, no one thinks you are better than them.

oh calm down dear.

my DS used to love being in the observation lounge at birmingham airport.

As an adult i've booked to stay with a plane spotter friend in a hotel next to E.mids airport that has runway facing rooms to watch the planes landing/taking off one weekend, was fun actually!

Remember those pre COVID days when you could leave your kids playing on a iPad in the Apple Store......

I used to take ds to ikea, give him lunch, sign him into the creche, read my book with a coffee while he played, and go home. I lived nearby so did it a lot.

I like the idea of it and have no problems with kids at all as long as parents are mindful of serious shoppers and kids are not damaging stuff.

Ah, so this is how it feels to bask in the glory of someone who can control their children.

Thank you so much for gracing us with your magnificence.

We used to love going to IKEA and playing with the big cuddly snakes. That was top entertainment when I was a kid!

Ah, probably in between the time of my own childhood and that of my DC then.

Mine had a pretty good light tunnel. I'm sure a small child would have enjoyed it.

Is this an advertising post by IKEA?
I was telling my DH about it and he said it mirrors IKEA's ad on Times Radio in every detail.

OMG. We did this in the pandemic when we couldn’t go anywhere else. It was open for essential shopping and it was pure gold.

@FromTheBlock we did the same and also got the bus to random places! So much more exciting than getting in the car, always the top deck!

I always find IKEA is the up market version of B&M. It's the packed full of lazy ass parents with a trolley of tatt they don't actually need, letting their feral kids annoy everyone else by running uncontrolled and screaming, whilst being oblivious and only occasionally stopping to glance over their shoulder and tell them off.

In IKEA it's women in bretton tops or dry robes hissing "Tallulah-Mae, do please quieten down. I really shouldn't have let you eat yoghurt with additives with your granola".

Whereas in B&M they shout much louder, and it's more of "Get here Jazzledine-Skye, you fuckin shite. Put that back. What have I fuckin told you about runnin round? You wait till I tell your bastard Dad about this. Yer little shite.".

Same circus, different monkeys.

Nope! But if they want to sponsor me with free stuff then they know where to find me 👋

Shit, I do love a bretton top. I draw the line at a dry robe though

One rainy Monday, seven months pregnant, I took three year old DS and he discovered the clever storage behind the kitchen doors and drawers.

He opened every single one. Great day.

Ikea literally give out tiny child sized pencils. The place is designed for kids. No adult would have that many soft toys in a room if they don't have kids.....

@Robyn847 yeah, so full of tat - is that why you go in there too? You clearly go a lot as you’re able to give such a definitive analysis.

Totally agree, my twins love Ikea, we also did trips out on rainy days to Pets at Home, garden centres, and a big Waterstones where they sold toys and a big in the middle where the kids could play with the toys. Also Westfield where you can hire those cars but obvs that's not free.

Also weirdly the yearly optician appointment in late August was like a fun trip out for them - they loved it 🤣

Totally agree. Also I am loving the pic of the swans in Ikea bags 😂