How often do people go shopping for beds? The last time I went was when we bought our first house many years ago. Back then I’m fairly certain I just went onto the Argos website and ordered the beds and mattresses for delivery. It’s obvious now I really went cheap on the spare bed… my back is certainly paying the price for it. There is a plan in place though – the OddDaughter’s four poster bed will be with us at some point today… though I won’t be putting that together until next week, after I paint her room pink, purple, and rainbows all over… so it’ll look like a unicorn has had a case of the shits all over the room.
Yesterday evening’s job was to find a new bed frame for ourselves, along with mattresses for us, the OddDaughter, and the OddNewborn – whenever they decide to join us. Simple task, right? Well, it was for the OddDaughter. We started by giving the OddDaughter a chance to try out multiple mattresses and tell us what she liked. Her feedback on each mattress:
“I don’t like the bubbly pattern on here”
“I like jumping on this one”
“Can I have a purple one?”
“Why is that lady lying on my bed?”
So like any good parent – we decided to just go with what the sales assistant recommended. Job done.
Then onto our mattress. And oh my days, this took longer than I expected. The assistant recommended we lie down on practically every mattress they had. And just like when I’m wine tasting… I can’t tell the damn difference between them. But I decided to play along anyway. Mrs OddFather on the other hand, really got into it. Not only did she lie down in position, but she closed her eyes for a few minutes. I’m fairly certain she nodded off a few times – leaving me and the assistant in a state of awkward silence.
I never knew it was possible, but I genuinely felt more tired lying on multiple beds. And still couldn’t tell the difference between most beds. It’s only natural, then, that we ended up going over budget on a mattress that felt the same to me as a cheaper alternative. Mrs OddFather, though, is convinced this is a sound investment in the quality of our lives. Good salesperson. Which is a sensible opinion – but also leaves me with no money towards buying a subwoofer for my tv.
Where was the OddDaughter during all of this? Well, I had Bluey on standby on my phone. As in the TV show. Obviously I don’t have the character on speed-dial – I have a restraining order. But to my surprise, the OddDaughter viewed the bed showroom as a playground… jumping up and down on the beds and running around the aisles. Occasionally stopping for a lie down to rest. If you’re looking for things to do with the kids – I highly recommend. And you get to have a lie down yourself!
Did we get round to buying our actual bed frame at the store? No. We ran out of time. Online shopping will do just nicely.