The last two nights were evenings of assembly. Mostly between commercials of Hell’s Kitchen and Masterchef, here I am taking large items out of their boxes and following manuals to construct what I’m sure will be used countless times until they wear out and no longer hold the weight of our children (or the dogs tear them apart- whichever comes first).
Two nights ago was the travel system stroller/car seat/coffee holder/imitation nascar (when mommy’s not around). This one was pretty simple. Since the base and car seat were already installed in the car, I just had to set up the stoller. We got the Graco Travelsystem with Snugride 30 (or something like that. It sounds good, so we’ll go with that). Basically, I had to snap on the under carraige netting, the baby food tray, and the mommy/daddy coffee tray. Very easy.
My wife was concerned about the weight of the stroller when lifting it up into the car after use. After I finished putting the whole thing together, I collapsed it and picked it up. It was very light. My wife then came over to pick it up and she too said, “yea, that’s not heavy at all.” So I think she feels better about that now.
Last night was round two: the Pack n’ Play. I have heard horror stories about putting one of these together. One close friend said, “For the first three hours, you’ll want to throw it out of the window, then it’ll be the best thing you’ve ever bought.” So that’s what I was expecting – anger, frustration, extra parts, and something that looked more like a sheet-fort than a possible sleeper.
Completely Assembled Pack n’ Play
In the end, it was pretty simple to assemble and set-up, save for two parts – the changing “table/pad” and the infant napper. I must have stared at the instructions for fifteen minutes trying to figure out how what starts as six different parts ends up as the picture in the manual. Needless to say, I just started shoving poles into sleeves, snapping on legs, and clicking buttons until it looked about right. I’m pretty sure it’s right. It fit on the Pack n’ Play and looks stable; should be good.
That led me to putting together the final part – the infant napper. It barely fit the poles that were designed for it. It takes some muscle to separate, click together, and put into the sleeves the poles that stablize the bed. I got it all together and went to put the napper on the Pack n’ Play when there was no place for it. What? Oh, that’s right – the manual never said that there was a right side and a wrong side. So I had to disassemble the napper, take off the changing “station,” turn everything around, then re-insert the napper poles in the “sleeves”, re-snap all the bassinet station, and viola! All together and ready for playing, sleeping, changing, and whatever else we can think of to use it for. Love it.
Dad By Fire 