The Tent

We've been tripping over this thing for almost 4 years now.

About four years ago the new parents (and grandparents) thought that this little tike reading tent would be so perfect and she would love it, and she would be in it all the time.

I mean look at it. It's sooooo cute. She will love it.

She does not love it.

I can count on my fingers how many times she's been in it.

This has been the biggest piece of crap we have ever bought for her, and it has been the worst experience ever when it comes to assembly. Of course, we found out about the assembly part on Christmas eve at 10pm that the little screw that was supposed to go into the little hole never did go in the little hole and they should fire the idiots that designed this thing.

This thing was defiant. It's like it wanted to stay in the box and never come out. But we forced it out of the box and managed to wrangle it into the living room by the tree for the big day. Come hell or high water we were going to have a Christmas with a tent in our living room. We. were. determined.

In hindsight, she was too young. We were new at this and didn't know better. We were still at OMGSHEWILLLOVETHIS stage. She didn't love it.

Want to know who loved it? The dog. I can't really blame her. There's usually a blanket on the floor and it's covered so she feels safe. But we didn't buy it for the dog. We bought it for the child.

Maybe it needs a blanket, we thought. Abuela made her a special blanket just for the tent. The blanket gets used for her teddy bears more than her. Also, the dog loves the blanket. The dog thanks us daily for that blanket.

For the longest time, this thing just sat in the living room taking up room where normal people might have furniture. But nope, we have a tent.

The best part? Once this thing is together, it's together. It's not moving.

Want to move it to another room? You must take it apart. There's no hinge or folding mechanism that would help with storage or movement. The only way to move it is to take it apart. It won't fit through doors without disassembly.

So, I took it apart so it could be moved to the family room and out of the living room where it has sat so long there's a clean spot in the carpet where the tent sat.

And in the family room it has sat. and sat. and sat.

It rarely gets used or played in. The neighborhood kids love it because they have smart parents that did not buy them one so of course, they think the tent is the coolest thing ever.

At one point BW and I decided that it was time for the tent to go and then it could be somebody else's problem but alas, our little charge caught us trying to remove the tent from the family room and give it away to some other sucker. But of course, there were tears and broken promises of more usage that never materialized.

Why tell this story? I dunno. As a cautionary tale.

It's the holiday season and it's easy to get caught up in buying gifts for the child that are really for the parent and the child will care less. Think of me when you have that 1000 piece lego kit in your Amazon shopping cart. You will pay for it.

Also, save the box.

That they will play in. I guarantee it.