IKEA

There are very few places in the world where adults can furnish their whole house, where children can cannonball into a ball pit, and where you can get 2 hotdogs for a dollar. This magical building is IKEA, and through out the course of my life, I have encountered many people that have never been to this establishment (you are missing out in life...)

This afternoon, my family and I went for our monthly pilgrimage to IKEA at Leslie and Sheppard (they have free shuttle buses from Leslie subway station btw). I haven't been in a while and there were numerous changes in store.

First off, the epic slide we all enthusiastically went through as children (and teenagers...) has been REMOVED. They replaced it with this, oversized mousehole thing...

This is a tragedy. It is almost as heartbreaking as when the county where my cottage is located removed the children's playground. It's sad that a happy part of my childhood taken for granted is gone. You might think I'm nuts to grieve over a 3ft high slide, but you must understand that I was deprived of the best part of the Ikea experience (and I'm not talking about the Swedish meatballs).

I never got to play in Ikea's playground. I missed out on this formative childhood experience because I was either too little, too tall or the pit was too crowded for them to accept me into the elusive play area. The slide was ALL I had. And now it's gone. I'm sure there are children out there that were rejected from the Ikea playground and they will miss out on the fun I had in that little slide.

After going through the children's department, (which I have to admit, is the most exciting part of the store) my sister found an interesting children's toy.

Although the plush cat was on sale for $7.99, I couldn't believe the pussy had NIPPLES! I couldn't stop laughing. I admit to being a cat lady, and through out my life, I have collected numerous plush cat toys, and none of them have ever had nipples. I don't think it's inappropriate for a child, in fact, it's an accurate depiction of cats... it was just unreal.

Secondly, the prices seem to be slowly creeping up... I always deemed H&M to be the IKEA of clothing stores, but like the Swedish fashion retailer, IKEA is raising their prices bit by bit. The curtains I bought two years ago are randomly double the price. Still cheap, but I hope the home store won't start to get hasty...

Another aspect that pisses me off, is the fact that their furniture is becoming increasingly more complicated to assemble. The diagrams are off, and more often than not, you are missing a vital tool to assemble the piece. If my dad wasn't an engineer, I doubt my media bookshelf would be standing as it is in my living room.

But enough hating. Even if you don't like the furniture, or the dangerous floor plan er maze of the store, stay for the meatballs.