Has anybody managed a whole family trip to Ikea that hasn't ended with you and dp wanting to dump the dc outside the Smaland gate whilst you drive home-fast!!!!!!!

[MilaMae]

OMG Ikea trip from hell today-dp is threatening never to go back. I foolishly thought now the dtwin's are 5 and dd is 4 Ikea would be doable with kids errrrr no way,ever again ever

What on earth do they feed them in Smaland they went in fairly ok come out a total bloody nightmare,as if they'd spent the whole measly 45minutes drinking a case of Redbull-each!!!!!

We're talking running round the bedding dep manically laughing,refusing to do as they were told. All this whilst chanting no actually screeching "we love Ikea".

I couldn't make any decisions,dp was worse than useless,totally zoned out as if he was on another planet(wishful thinking).

Oh and the best bit is they didn't have what we wanted so we'll have to go back!!!!!!!

Please tell me others have had similar experiences, today was not our finest parenting day

So true Bernard.

LOL @ the childbirth analogy. So true

I actually like a bit of a mooch round Ikea but only when I don't have anything big to get...

So true Badass.
Are we all just really one person d'you think?

I will now confess that sometimes, at the end of the month when money is tight, if it's raining I take ds to IKEA as a sort of free soft play .

It's quiet during the day, ds likes playing in the pretend rooms and I get a free cup of coffee with my Family card.

How sad is that

Excellent thread.
We are so bad in IKEA that DH and I havent been there together for about 5 years!
I do love going with my sis/Mum though and buying up the swedish shop, as well as lots of other tat we dont need, candles, napkins, tablecloths etc etc...

Last time I went my DTs stole a stuffed cat whilst my neice flicked squirty ice cream in the hair of a behived woman in the car park. Sheesh.

I'm rather partial to the smoked fish platter!

They should have some sort of 'play area' for men, where you can drop your dh off before going in with the kids!

I love how child-friendly it is - me and the kids always have a good time in IKEA. Wouldn't dream of taking dh there, he's still recovering from the last time we went 2 years ago!

It's not too bad here in Budapest. Have been with DH and DS a few times and managed not to kill each other.

I usually go during the week though after I drop DS at school. They don't open till 10am though but the cafe does so I sit and have a nice coffee and then shop in piece. Need to go this week actually.

There used to be an area in the cafe at the Ikea I go to , with playstations and papers.

LOL my kids used to "nick" things too, I wonder how much stock is smuggled out in buggies and the kid seat on the trollies while parents are to busy arguing over Billy.

We had our first ever relaxed trip to Ikea on Saturday and that was because both DSes went to play in the creche for an hour!! In fact, I have a sneaky plan that when I have them on my own on a Sat when DH is working, I'm going to go again, put them in the free creche then go and have a coffee and a cake, then go home