IKEA resolution

I was finally contacted by IKEA on Wednesday, one week after I sent the email off.  The manager over Smaland, M., had been away on personal leave, and the store manager has been on vacation.  (I wondered if that was the situation.)

The US IKEA policy to allow disabled diapered children in Smaland is a somewhat recent one, having taken effect last August.  However, Draper IKEA chose not to incorporate the change into their Smaland policies.  The explanation given was that the Draper store has the highest admittance of children into Smaland--an average of 22-30 children per hour, where most stores have 8-12 children a day.  Because diapered children have a greater risk of toilet accidents, they choose not to allow them in.  (They are currently "re-evaluating" this decision.  Because of me?  Who knows?)

(Aside:  I don't doubt that diapers and pullups can leak, and of course they aren't set up to change diapers there.  It just seems to me that you would have FEWER accidents with diapered children.  And I will just note that, when we went to IKEA on Thursday, the ball pit was closed because someone had piddled in it.  This isn't the first time my children have reported that.)

However, the Draper store does have a policy of taking reservations for disabled children.  (They reduce the ratio of children to workers whenever there is a disabled child at Smaland, hence the need for the reservation.)  M. apologized profusely that I was not given this option last Wednesday.  After asking when next I would be visiting the store, she then made an appointment for all of my children (except, of course, Yummy) and my niece Kay to be allowed into Smaland at two the next afternoon.

(Another aside:  My sister arrived at IKEA a couple of minutes ahead of me.  She checked at the Smaland desk to make sure we were expected, and told the employee there my name.  When she heard that, the employee turned to her co-worker and said, "Okay, Keryn is coming."  Apparently they were given special instructions about us, which included allowing the kids to stay in the play area for 90 minutes, instead of the usual half hour.  Which was awesome.)  Although Gee was disappointed by the aforementioned ballpit closure, he had a great time!

So.  Apparently the Draper IKEA's policy is a distinction without a difference, since they DO admit disabled children, but only with a reservation.  I am grateful for this information, and I am grateful for the assistance that we were given.  It was not the most pleasant experience, but I think that IKEA has stepped up and did everything they could to fix it.  I feel comfortable shopping there.

Thanks for all the sweet comments you all left for me, both on my blog and on facebook.  I am really grateful for such good friends!