abbababy

With the last of our wonderful summer guests departed, I was chomping at the bit to turn our second guest room (the "Cozy Corner") into a nursery for the twins. Early in the summer, Morley and I had gone to Ikea and purchased a matching crib and dresser/changing table and then stored them away for safekeeping. On the way home from taking our friend Eric to the train station, we stopped in at one of those big-box baby emporiums in Montélimar and bought the most wonderful layette set. The motif is of a daddy rabbit gazing down on a bunny in a cradle. Below the image are the embroidered words "Mon papa me berce" (My daddy rocks me). My heart just melted. We spent about 700 euros at that store, buying sheets, pacifiers, bumpers, sleepers, bibs and all sorts of stuff, and then drove home. I hauled out the Ikea crib and matching mattress, put everything together (it looked adorable) and then I tried to put the bumper and the Mon papa me berce sheets on the crib.

Nothing fit.

You know, I always just thought a crib was a crib. Some were sturdy, some were flimsy, some were ugly, some were gorgeous ... but at least they were all "standard crib size." Morley and I have just now learned the hard way that there IS a standard crib size and Ikea couldn't care less. It chooses to make its baby beds significantly narrower and shorter than the standard. You absolutely can't use normal baby bedding on an Ikea crib! Oh yeah, and the changing table isn't the right dimensions for a standard changing pad, either. What are they smoking in Sweden?

Wonderful. So tomorrow we've got to go shopping for another -- larger -- crib for our sons. At least we won't make the same costly mistake when we furnish the nursery in Toronto two weeks from now.

Tim

"Keep your voices down, sweethearts. Daddy's really grumpy."

Abba