Yesterday Brent and I re-learned a valuable lesson about our marriage: Hold hands in the car, sing your favorite song out loud on the radio, but for heavens sake DO NOT go to IKEA together.
We aren’t really IKEA people to begin with- their clean, modern aesthetic doesn’t mesh with our eclectic, vintage decorating style. We’ve utilized IKEA mostly for organizational purposes like stainless steel kitchen accessories or stacking baskets - But yesterday’s trip was deemed mandatory as we are finishing Everly’s nursery and were in desperate need of shelving and storage for her room.
We drove there with optimism in our hearts and select amnesia over our past joint experiences within the walls of that giant Scandinavian warehouse. Brent had spoken this exact phrase after every previous trip “I am NEVER, EVER stepping foot in that place again” and I have always responded with “I am NEVER, EVER stepping in that place with YOU again.”
yet somehow, we always forget our declarations and seem shocked when we find ourselves in meltdown mode by the time we get to the middle of the kitchen display area. Yesterday we didn’t even make it out of the kid stuff section. I was two seconds away from hurling a yellow polka dot stuffed camel at Brent while he tried to argue that plastic bins would be better for storage than the little white dresser I had picked out. We were THOSE people- the ones everyone else pretends not to notice while they argue, (arms flying) in the middle of everyone.
We usually are really good at both making our points and coming to a compromise - but there is something inside of IKEA - I don’t know if it’s the overhead lighting, the throngs of shoppers, the labyrinth like maze of housewares… but our ability to reason with one another goes out the window. We resort to tantrums.
It’s an unfamiliar feeling - the overwhelming desire to escape my husband and hide from him inside a dorm room floor display… but that’s all I wanted as we bickered up and down the aisles, tossing things from our list into the cart. He wanted out of there so fast that we were literally flying down the aisles as if we were contestants on Supermarket Sweep.
As we finally made our way to the checkout, I caught his glance out of the corner of my eye. I smiled just a tiny smile at him. He put his hand on my back and rubbed it. The curse of IKEA was slowly lifting off of us both as we set our eyes on the sunlight pouring through the automatic doors to the outside world.
As he waited to collect our new crib mattress from the warehouse pickup, I bought us an ice cream cone to share. By the time we were opening the doors to the car we were laughing at the ridiculous way in which we just acted towards one another. He said “I am NEVER EVER stepping foot in that place again” and I said ” I am NEVER EVER stepping foot in that place with YOU again” and then he reached over and held my hand all the way home.
Love,
M
