Warning Labels

Charlotte has an Ikea. John tried to hid this fact from me in fear that he would have to go there. A few years ago, we went to the Ikea in Cincinnati with my mom. John made it about 20 feet into the first "show room" before getting overwhelmed and walking out. He has lived in fear of Ikea ever since. I on the other hand, love that store - and once I realized there was one less than 10 minutes away from me, off we went. John sat in the car looking defeated but I promised him we would by-pass most the rooms since we are currently overflowing with stuff in our townhouse... which basically meant we went right to the kids section. And wow, that had to be the coolest section. I'm not sure why we have ever shopped anywhere else! The cute little furniture and creative toys were just perfect and I don't know how James has ever lived without any of it! After I found several things that we just had to have, James found a toy that he could not let go of - a push cart. James has always loved his push toys but has outgrown all of them. This one is just perfect and seems durable enough for a toddler. As in typical Ikea fashion it was not put together, so when we got home James went down for his nap and John started putting it together. I headed out to walk the dogs and when I came back ... John was pushing James around the house in the cart. Literally in the cart.

Now, I have learned in the past that some of James toys are just way too much fun for John and he has a hard time using them as the toymaker intended. Never did I think that a simple wooden push cart from Ikea would be one of those. But it was. And has been for the past few weeks. And it always gets a little rambunctious, especially because the dogs always have to get involved in the chase. Without fail, James outlasts John and the dogs in this game - and so when John gets tired and stops, James takes over and just runs around pushing his cart and trying to get the dogs back in the game. Usually it ends up with the dogs just trying to get out of the way.

When James is finally done he plops down in front of the TV exhausted...  in his cart - I'm not sure what the weight limit for this cart, but I have a hunch it is not made for how it is being used. However, as John so diligently pointed out, there was nothing on the warning label about not using it as a riding toy. Can't argue with that logic.