Toy Nemesis

I don't usually put together Aidan's toys or furniture, my husband does. And I usually wonder why it takes him so long. Now I feel bad. Fortunately for us, we bought the unused floor model of this swing and we didn't have to put it together. This has been Aidan's favorite thing in the world, but I think I may love it even more because without it, I'd get nothing done. It mesmerizes him and puts him in a trance that no other toy or piece of furniture dares to do. But as he gets older, the usual routine of eat, swing, play on floormat, hang out with mommy, nap is getting a little stale. Which means new, more stimulating toys. Like the one I tried to put together today. This particular 5-in-1 gym looked real great, and looked real easy to put together. He can use it forever, lying down, sitting, and standing. (This is him in it, below)

So after I laid Aidan down for a nap and commenced its construction, I started reading the directions. Which were only a bunch of pictures of parts with corresponding numbers. So I sat on the floor for about a half hour looking at these parts and making sure they're all in the correct direction before I put them together like the diagrams showed. They say you need a Phillips screwdriver. Which was a lie. You need a Phillips POWER screwdriver. Because after another half-hour of screwing in these screws which were going nowhere no matter how hard I pushed, I got out the powerful one and it did the trick in about a second. Apparently you make the hole yourself. Good to know. Then, what the directions fail to tell you because there are none, remember only pictures, is that if you put one of the parts on the wrong way, in my case, upside down because I'm real bright, that you can never ever ever take the part off again. Ever. So after some finagling and a deep gash on my thumb from a wayward tool, I didn't get it off, but I was able to figure out how to fix it. The gym only has like 6 parts and in hindsight was really easy to put together, except for a few facts that instructions with words probably would have helped and saved me a band-aid. Veteran parents are probably sympathizing with my plight of toy assembly right now, because I'm sure that sadly, this is only the beginning. Now I know what my parents went through putting together my Barbie Dream House. Ps. Sorry Evan.