Ikea, Emma Jane and a Wheelchair

Yesterday, I went with Emma Jane to IKEA.   We were looking for a duvet cover for Emma Jane to take to college next week.   She is leaving for Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina on Friday.  We took the wheelchair with us because I didn't think I could crutch it around the entire store and I didn't want to miss anything.  Emma Jane has taken to calling me "Crutch" now. She enjoys this moniker and may start using it rather than Mom.

Emma Jane is a very bright person.  She has a memory like a computer.  Once information is input into her brain, it stays there and she can recall it very easily.  We do not argue with her about facts because she is correct 99% of the time. Okay, well we do argue with her from time to time just to see her reaction to our challenge.  It is fun to upset her apple cart.  She is a voracious reader and has a book collection which is rapidly spreading into every room of the house like the  untended ivy in my flower bed.

My first experience with her pushing the wheelchair was a week ago at Bed Bath &Beyond again looking at college things.  Emma Jane rearranged the aisles in BB&B so that she could turn the corner with "Crutch" in  he wheelchair.  A few corners were just too tight and we knocked things off the shelves.  Sorry to BB&B.  On the straight away aisles, Emma Jane would pick up speed and lift herself up on the handles and get a free ride.  Fun for her, frightening for me.  She informed me that I was not to touch anything because it could slow down our process.  I feared loosing an arm if I didn't obey her rules. 

IKEA has a huge undergound parking lot which requires an elevator to get to the shopping level.  Our first obstacle was the elevator.  We rode it all the way up and all the way down before deciding which level to exit.  We decided to visit the restroom before shopping.  I wish there were some way to purchase the hand dryer in IKEA.  The force of the air coming from the dryer forced all the wrinkles out of my hands and up to my elbows.  Think what it could do to the wrinkles elsewhere.

I thought  that Emma Jane had learned the art of wheelchair pushing on our last adventure.  I was wrong.   As I mentioned, she is very bright. She has an ability to hyperfocus which allows her to take in great amounts of information without any distraction. I was not the object of her hyperfocus at IKEA. I was the distraction she managed to avoid.  Emma Jane was captivated by all the innovative and sleek furniture and storage options.   So captivated in fact that she often would wander off leaving me in the middle of an aisle blocking traffic, telling me  "Be right back Cructch."  I would apologize as people tried to get past with their carts while looking at me as if I were an abandoned child.  (This wheelchair does not have large wheels that I could have used to get out of the way.)  She did always come back for me.  I was the one with the credit card.  It pays to have an American Express.

We did find a pretty duvet cover named Renate Blom.  She also got yellow and green towels to go with it as well as polka dot sheets at Target.  It was a great day with Emma Jane.  We laughed and shopped and talked.  I can't think of a better way to spend the day with a daughter.




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