25.2.11: Ikea Smaland

I tried my luck in leaving the boys in Ikea Smaland while I did some errands. E was enthusiastic to join in and spoke with the staff in charge but S was a little reluctant. Previously, when he was 3+ and I put him there, he immediately wanted to cry for me when I walked away. In the end, I brought him out. However, now that he was older, I managed to coax him to follow his younger brother inside. They explored the place tentatively and later warmed up and played in the pool of balls. S dived in and enjoyed himself there.

When I went to pick the boys, another female staff told me that I had to pick them up at the Marketplace downstairs. I didn't know that, as the Ikea staff that I liaised with earlier on did not tell me that. This must be Ikea's strategy to get parents to walk through and buy things, along the way. Well, they should have told me that in the first place.Now, this female staff told me that that was the procedure and was slightly unhappy that I wanted to pick them up at the front entrance. However, she finally allowed the boys to exit from there citing that it was a weekday and that there weren't many people there.