Seeking Solutions
The playhouse is on the back burner for right now. Remember that playtable I ordered for Nathan? Yeah, well it never showed up. I had to wait 3 months for them to determine it was ‘lost’ and then they refunded my shipping and sent a replacement. Except they didn’t. When I got my credit card bill and there was no refund from them I sent my new friend Melissa in customer service an email. Not only was my shipping not refunded, the table was never reordered- this whole time I thought the table was on its way. Swell. No, better than swell, freaking amazing. Wait- it gets better. They have just recently changed their policy so that they will no longer ship playtables to FPO addresses. [weep]. I really liked the Land of Nod one because the legs are adjustable and I thought the shape/design was just a smidge cuter than anything Pottery Barn Kids has. On the upside- they can ship the chairs to me. “Here kids- have a seat, lets use our imaginations and pretend there is a play table with adjustable legs here.”
I called PBK this morning and surprise surprise they won’t ship it either [sob]. Oh you guys, I love Japan. I really really do and yes, this is materialistic and petty but Im SO OVER not being able to get what it is I want.
Im racking my brain trying to think outside the proverbial box on how to get something table-like here. I saw a great Chinese antique table the other day but I cringe a little at the thought of letting my kids color and paste all over it. Plus- the antique Chinese don’t do the adjustable leg thing. And before you remind me of our weight issue, Im purging at the same time– the baby glider and ottoman are going, books are going, some dishes are going–I’d say we have 8+ boxes of stuff exiting. Either way, the kids need somewhere to play, let me present exhibit A- the play area mess. Except this isn’t a mess- this is actually as ‘picked up’ as it gets.
Yes, I know it looks terrible. No paint, nothing on the walls, the messy bookcase. The loose plan at the moment is to swap the bookcase out (put it in the family room or Nathan’s room) and use our two gov’t bookcases (not exactly pretty but functional) and it would look like something Pottery Barn(ish) with bookcases with neatly organized baskets and then a playtable behind the couch. Thats the hope. What we have right now? Its depressing.
*the end table you see in the 2nd picture- that gov’t bad boy is going back to the warehouse.
think brain think:
-PC is headed back to DC for a conference soon and PBK doesn’t stock the playtables in their stores so I thought of him shipping it home but he has to be able to get it first.
-find some military family moving here soon, send it to them and have them pack it with their stuff. I don’t know anyone moving and Im not sure I’d trust someone in that situation-plus- it would be MONTHS before it got there.
-see how much it costs to ship it FexEx international.
-try and figure out that FedEx smart-ship business.
-pray to the furniture gods
-PC’s friend is in the Philippines right now so Im sure he could take a picture to the people who made the kids’ kitchen to have them make us a table, but we’re still stuck on how to get it back here (PC doesn’t have as many pilot connections anymore to get them to load it on one of the planes).
-build a table out of all the cardboard boxes floating around our house. I guess our house will look like a junk hole college apartment forever. Oh Pessimism, I love you.
Come on internet- THINK…..what can I do? Does anyone [echo echo echo] have any connections at PBK or Land of Nod or FedEx or maybe just a boat they will be crossing the Pacific with in the next few weeks? Please help.
Filed under: Military Life, someday you'll look back at this and laugh...someday
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If PC is crafty enough to build an amazing playhouse, shouldn’t he be able to construct a simple play table? Just sayin’…
But I feel for you. And if it makes you feel any better, I CAN get the stuff I need and our playroom still looks atrocious most of the time.
1 Jessica said this (February 18, 2010 at 2:46 am)
Well….simple is all relative. I mean, I could get a board and stack it on some cinder blocks and call it a playtable.
He probably could, the problem with building anything is the cost of the materials (here)– even the playhouse could prove to be an expensive experiment. And unlike the playhouse which could look crappy and as long as the kids liked it then its purpose is served, Im so SO tired of my house looking like a mish-mash of furniture, I want something that looks nice.
2 lisa said this (February 18, 2010 at 3:16 am)
No solutions, just thought I’d tell you that I know someone who has the Land of Nod playtable and it dents and scratches pretty much as soon as you look at it. I think if you’re looking for quality, both PBK & Land of Nod will disappoint. Send PC to Ikea. At least then you’re not spending a bunch of money on it and he can figure out how to get it home.
3 Steph said this (February 18, 2010 at 1:11 pm)
Thats good to know. Of course if it dents and scratches easily then it would match our coffee table.
4 lisa said this (February 18, 2010 at 1:18 pm)
If I were you I’d buy an asian fold out table that traditionally gets used for eating on the floor when extra guests come over. I know Korea makes a ton of them and I’m assuming that Japan has them as well. They make them in lots of different colors and different designs and it could serve the purpose of an extra kids eating table when you have families over for dinner. BTW, if you are still interested in the Land of Nod table, we have it and I’ve been pretty happy with the quality. I’m not sure of how you could get it, but thought I’d mention we’ve been happy with it
5 Vivian said this (February 18, 2010 at 4:14 pm)
Speaking of the coffee table…maybe we give the kids our dented/scratched/milk-stained coffee table and buy you a nice, new coffee table?
6 PC said this (February 18, 2010 at 6:18 pm)
I checked with my PBK contacts and no strings could be pulled.
Ikea has a new tabletop paper roller for cheap. I say get an Ikea table and paper roller and make a craft kiddie table yourself.
7 MamaMonkey said this (February 19, 2010 at 12:11 am)
I thought of another idea – have you checked with the woodshop on base? They’ll custom build stuff. I saw a fireplace surround they built (for a faux fireplace in base housing; it was entertaining) and the quality looked pretty good. Might be worth a shot.
8 Stephanie said this (February 19, 2010 at 1:44 pm)
Why not use shipitapo.com?? We have used them for a 5k computer as well as numerous other small things. Penelope has also used them. No problems. You just have to pay shipping twice, but that must be cheaper than international shipping.
9 Janelle said this (February 20, 2010 at 6:35 am)
The ship it to APO thing….the problem is that I think the box is too big or the weight is too much which is why the first one never made it. Im thinking of shoving the coffee table over there and just ordering the chairs.
10 lisa said this (February 23, 2010 at 1:59 pm)