Whew… That Was Fun

Some things Sadie just can’t help with.

We got a slightly used baby swing, the alternative being to find screws to fit the old one with an excessive footprint or buy a new one, but it turned out to have been assembled inaccurately.  We’d looked at it somewhat, and I’d gotten a feel for the basic problem, but I wasn’t clear then on how, if it was wrong that way, it could ever have been meant to work.  It took further disassembly to see it, at which point it was relatively straightforward.

The thing is designed to fold and transport, to fold to a compact height, or to be full height, which is still smaller than the old swing Sadie used.  The design makes it inherently shakier than seems ideal in the full height, though it does appear technically safe.  We have it on the living room floor beside his car seat, ready to be enjoyed in compacts mode.  That puts the bottom of the seat just a couple inches off the floor at its lowest point.  The girls have been good about leaving him along in the seat, so they’ll probably be oaky with the swing, though it’s inherently more interesting, attracting opinions and a desire to “help.” For instance, it has a toy console that straps to the tray.  The girls have decreed that he must have the toy console on there.

It was hardly the hardest thing I’ve assembled or reassembled, but I can see how it could have tripped someone up.  Especially if the instructions were typical.  Why is it that no manufacturer can ever seem to get instructions right?  That’d be an interesting gig for me; testing product assembly instructions and supplying feedback as to how they could be rewritten for better satisfaction.  Heck, if I were the old-fashioned handyman type (guys who do that around here have more work than they can handle, but it also requires working fairly cheap compared to many jobs or businesses), I could see making product assembly one of the list of services provided.

Even something as simple as your basic $30, five shelf bookcase, I have found myself wondering what they were thinking when they created the instructions.  Usually I have to step back, look at the parts, look at the image of the finished result, ignore the instructions freely and logic it out myself.

Despite all the cursing, I’m relatively good at that kind of thing.  I grew up labeled “not mechanically inclined,” but that was compared to my overachieving brother.  Any time I’ve tested for that, I’ve tested way up there, as has my sister.

Okay, Valerie says “I’m in yer office, deztroyin yer stuff” so I have to be done with this post…

1. So true about the bookcase assemblies. The ones I end up with come with allen screws, allen wrenches, tiny dowels, and this ridiculous diagram that just shows how things should fit together. Arrows everywhere, no written instructions… I always have to spend about half an hour or an entire hour on muddled-head days just figuring out what the stupid diagram is saying.

   Posted by sarahk  on  09/02  at  07:26 PM  from  Floriduuuuh

2. "The girls have been good about leaving him along in the seat, so they’ll probably be oaky with the swing...”

   As long as they aren’t pining for a turn.

   Posted by triticale  on  09/04  at  08:49 AM  from  the you know house

3. There’s always ONE thing about every baby item that’s impossible to do.  The rest of the item is easy to put together but that ONE THING will drive you up the wall.  For Alyssa’s crib, it was the drawer.  For her high-chair, it was the reclining pivot.  And so on.

   Posted by Josh  on  09/04  at  09:54 AM  from  Georgia
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