What I'm not good at is Ikea furniture--you know, putting it together. I used to be able to put it together when the pieces came with like, four screws and a turny S-shaped metal tool to screw them in. But now the furniture is so complicated it comes with a set of 97 pegs, screws, nails and a 10-page set of instructions (all pictures) with 17 steps.
It makes my head hurt, all that attention to detail and all those little parts. Which is why I am thankful to have Mark around, now that he's old enough (and far more patient) to put this stuff together.
He wanted a nightstand for his room, and suggested Ikea. He picked out the stand he wanted, complete with a drawer for all his stuff and a shelf for all his books. He showed me a picture of it, but all I saw was a ruined afternoon and a lot of frustration.
"I'm gonna put it together," he told me later that night, making him my very favorite kid in the world. And put it together he did!
He did have some problems along the way, but none of them were with the furniture. The biggest problem was the world's largest kitten, who harassed Mark the whole time.
Mark dutifully took out all the wooden pieces and placed them on the floor--Fernando immediately laid on them.
When Mark took out all the screws, nails and pegs, separating them into neat piles, Fernando's eyes grew huge. He creeped in to send them all flying, but Mark caught him, saving us from chasing a million loose pieces.
Mark brought over the cat's new kitty condo. Each time Fernando interfered, Mark put him on the condo, distracting him with a toy. Then Mark returned to the floor, attaching the pieces, while Fernando swatted him in the head.
Mark did an awesome job. I helped him occasionally, but he did 95% of the work himself. He worked on that nightstand for an hour and a half, with a rotten cat trying to ruin it every step of the way.
Finally, he turned to the last page, installing the drawer. We studied that page over and over, but couldn't figure out exactly what the picture wanted us to do. I finally figured it out, and put together the rollers and wheels.
"Are you ready for the big reveal?" I asked Mark, and he nodded.
He flipped over the nightstand, and I slipped in the drawer. The wheels clicked in, I shut the drawer. But instead of a smooth glide, it rolled in clumsily, stopping with a thunk an inch out of place.
"Uh oh," I said. I tried prying it back out, but the wheels had clicked in, and there was no way to get it back out. Mark had just worked on this stand for 90 minutes, and I ruined the whole thing in five seconds. Apparently, Fernando wasn't the only one impeding his progress.
But unlike Fernando, I know my limitations. I tugged and pulled on that drawer for a good three minutes, until I realized that it wasn't coming back out. I was dangerously close to just ripping it out, which would have ruined all of Mark's hard work.
So I did what I do best with Ikea furniture--I walked away.
"Uncle Brad will fix it for you," I promised Mark."He's super good at detailed stuff like this." And sure enough, he did.
I was so proud of Mark, and the awesome job he did. The nightstand turned out great, despite me and Fernando's best efforts to ruin it.
And now I no longer fear Ikea furniture--because I have Mark! He'd better get his little metal S-shaped Ikea screwdriver ready, because I'm gonna put that kid to work.
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