IKEA

I spent part of the weekend assembling IKEA furniture.  On reflection, I thought back to the “Fight Club” quote, “Like everyone else, I had become a slave to the IKEA nesting instinct.”  In the movie the narrator describes his disillusionment with his life.  Going to work and setting up a home became a painful hamster wheel to nowhere.

A bookshelf, a few storage bins, and two toddler chairs are a simple and poignant reminder that my identity is partly defined by my family and my home.  That is a good thing.  I have no grand plan to redefine society or set people free of their debt obligation.  My grand plan does involve living vicariously through my children.  One step to that end is making sure they have a safe, clean home in which to live and grow.

My wife is an IKEA fanatic.  I can partly see her point as they tend to have well designed furnishings and household goods that meet my quality standard.  I am not buying a lifetime hand tool or an heirloom desk.  I am buying for the 5-10 year time frame with light to moderate use.

The purchases in question were for the kids “game room.”  The quotes are appropriate as this room is adjacent to the dining room/office and consists of toy storage, kitchen set, faux dressing table and a small worktable.  I often think a better solution would be to just line the whole area with gym mats.  At any rate, the toys are more organized for me and hopefully for them also.  The chairs are certainly safer than the folding chair.  Unfortunately there is no chair I know of that is designed to be a climbing toy.