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?

I used to puppy raise for Guide Dogs. Great place to take a Labrador puppy for shop-training, but had to march them quickly past the floor level soft toys.

Go Outdoors is also a great one - we have one in walking distance so we sometimes have a walk down and my two (5 and 2) 'test' all the tents!

My grandmother used to do that when we visited her in the 90ies / early 2000ies. I looooved trying the fresh produce with her and getting to see (and buy) the fluffy baby ducks and chicks as well… (the animals were bought to be kept as farm animals until their slaughter, btw.)

Those markets were probably fairly dodgy from an animal welfare point of view but as a child I was in heaven.

The ikea nearest to me has a pretend kitchen in the main cafe which we always sit near so they can go play in it inbetween eating bits of food !

I think IKEA need to launch a cuddly swan in a bag toy

Honestly I hate it unless I put mine in the free crèche which honestly, more stores should have!!

My stepdad used to take me to Texas Homecare, where I'd spend a happy hour ringing all the different test doorbells...

YES 😍

So a quick Google....
Swedish for Swan is Svan.
Swedish for bag is Väska.
Therefore I hope to see a new product called Svanväska by the end of the year 🦢

Check if you have a branch of Maidenhead Aquatics or equivalent. We can feed fish and stingray for a quid and look at all the lovely colourful fish in their tanks.

When my son was small enough our rainy day out was a trip to IKEA. Put him the crèche for an hour and have a coffee while he played. Often left without it even going through the shop bit.

Smyths toys where they can ride all the scooters and bikes down thr aisle is also great to kill an hour

IKEA is always good with kids but I would never let them climb all over the furniture. That's not on!

It’s show furniture, it’s not generally for sale so it’s not disrespectful.
if sold at all, its in the sad section of broken and unloved things at the last chance saloon before the tills (and inexplicably the food including frozen which is also after the main tills 🤯. I digress)

A whole range is needed really

He refuses to go in but I’m hoping he will soon as would make it so much easier when I actually need to shop and no childcare

With all profits to swan sanctuaries 🙂

My kids adore going to the supermarket as we shop for everything online. Huge novelty to put something in the trolley. How tragic is that !

I hated it as a kid, it took bleddy ages as my mother used to chat to everyone for hours.

We also did the airport thing as kids but mostly local woods, den building and so on. DH's parents used to take him to a birdwatching club - he had an activity sheet to match against all the birds he could find.

I love going there with my kid, hate going there with my partner !

Deeply envious, Toys R Us was the one place I was desperate to visit as a kid but we lived too far from one. Been in many as an adult but it never had the same effect.

Totally useless random fact but I learnt the other day that the lady who sung the Toys R Us advert song also did the vocals for the Mr Blobby single!

I remember taking my dd to London for the weekend when she was about 8. We did loads of touristy stuff, visited loads of places and when I asked her what her favourite bit was the said ‘the tube’ 😂

Love that !

DH and I had frequent trips out to Go-Outdoors and Garden Centres at that time. No young children with us but they were open when other things weren’t so somewhere to go, something to do.

Yup, frequently my children would cite the train/ bus or train station as their best part of the day (it was rare as we drove mainly). DS1 still remembers the sleeper train & London Tube age 6, but not much about London itself/ Lego land🙈.

I went to John Lewis in Oxford street at the weekend to look for beds. There were a load of teen boys lounging IN the beds, playing music on their phones, gaming and having a throughly great time, you could tell by the trail of messed up beds through the department. Not much common sense and decency going on there!

OP, throughly agree, the ikea near me closed about five years ago and I mourn it still, especiallly now I have children.