Pack N Play nearly ruined my marriage

JessWhatINeeded · January 2014

I'm exaggerating of course. But man did we struggle putting that supposedly simple thing together. I'm a read the instructions first kind of gal; DH prefers to dive right in and wing it. He also isn't bothered when things aren't assembled correctly. I want it done right. Well, big meathead broke a part off, then continued to jam parts together the way he thought it should be even when I told him he had it wrong. What do I know? I'm just a silly woman I guess. He triumphantly held up a crooked, misshaped blob of a newborn napper and declared it done. It wouldn't lock into place - no surprise. So he wanted to just throw it away. I grabbed it from him to take apart and start all over. But the brut had forced it together so hard I couldn't pull it apart and ended up throwing it to the floor exasperated.

As I was Fighting back tears, he did manage to take it apart and reassemble it in its functional form. But not before some choice words were exchanged.

ScaredOfCats · January 2014

I'm sorry. I think baby gear is designed to test relationships. Happy you were able to get it done though.

slwprincess · January 2014

Tee hee. Been there. Done that. Trust me when I say, this is only the first of many such encounters. Christmas Eve is probably the most stressful night of the year for my marriage. I want to TP him as we assemble each gift.

MamaAllison · January 2014

I fucking hate the Newborn Napper. I am so glad putting it together is done!

Winnieella · January 2014

Wait, is your pnp broken?

And I'm sorry about the set up, ours took an hour because both H and I read the instructions before starting.

inluv4life2 · January 2014

Haha! This situation is exactly reversed at my house. Glad it got done!

gobbo1985 · January 2014

Every time me and my husband have to put stuff together we fight. Drives me nuts! I ended up putting ours together while he was at work so I didn't have to deal with fighting lol

RondackHiker · January 2014

Winnieella said:
Wait, is your pnp broken?

And I'm sorry about the set up, ours took an hour because both H and I read the instructions before starting.

This.
If a part broke off I wouldn't use it.

jpoindahouse · January 2014

When we first found out I was pregnant, DH and I were gifted a used pack n' play by my mother's neighbor. DH attempted to put it together and broke it, causing my usually level headed husband to flip his shit. I think that he equated being able to successfully assemble a pack n' play with his ability to be a good father and husband. He just took it way, way too seriously. It took several beers to get him to calm down from the whole thing. Anyway, long story short, we too had a "pack n' play incident."

tangerinemachine · January 2014

My DH was banging the pnp on the floor I thought he was going to throw it on the front lawn! He said he's never taking it down now because it's a piece of junk but really he just didn't follow directions. But the rest of the furniture went together smoothly.

micaelasmakeup · January 2014

My DH and I are completely opposite of you guys, but yes I remember the pnp leading to the same type of marriage ending fighting too. I had to walk away.
My MIL, who is the sweetest kindest lady in the entire world, bought a pnp for her house and she was putting up w/o help and I didn't know, until I heard the curse words and crashing metal.
Putting those together is not for the light hearted;)

eg214 · January 2014

LMFAO! This is one of those rare times why I'm glad to be a single mom. My dad and his wife got the duties of putting all of LO's things together, so I got to sit back and enjoy them getting frustrated with one another.

I'm so sorry you guys had a fight over it but happy you got it all done! Hopefully you don't have to assemble any furniture IKEA style, because that was their next biggest PITA.

eg214 · January 2014

MamaAllison said:

I fucking hate the Newborn Napper. I am so glad putting it together is done!

HAHA! If I remember correctly, my fam had more of a massive issue with the changing table part of the P&P then the NN. Someone could make a killing with a business coming in and assembling all baby gear.

kklimas · January 2014

Same thing over her OP. My DH took putting the crib together very seriously though (probably because I started to ask my FIL to assist months before). He did a really good job happy to report, no extra nuts or bolts like usual, but I was NOT allowed to go into the room until it was finished.
This also reminded be of one of our relationship-ending arguments on our honeymoon (!). It involved a rag top jeep, a pinched finger, driving while manually holding the roof on in the rain back to the hotel. Yeah that was like looking in a crystal ball. Ah good times!

cksmith29 · January 2014

My future engineer (aka 13 yo daughter) puts everything up for us. Thank goodness she loves figuring things out and that she's good at it because DH and I don't want to do it ourselves.

ziggy903 · January 2014

SStinson1 said:

MamaAllison said:

I fucking hate the Newborn Napper. I am so glad putting it together is done!

HAHA! If I remember correctly, my fam had more of a massive issue with the changing table part of the P&P then the NN. Someone could make a killing with a business coming in and assembling all baby gear.

This is how I will make my first million. Because you're right- people would pay quite a bit to have someone else put that shit together.

rachelemark · January 2014

Ha oh my gosh, I have been dreading this. Our crib sat in the hall for weeks and was a total eyesore. DH kept delaying putting it together and I was in no rush, because I knew it would be a huge conflict once we got around to it. I ended up having my dad come over one night that he was working and we did it.

I still need to get our PNP and I think we are getting it next weekend. Thanks for the reminder that I will need to assemble it while he is out! I'd honestly rather do it alone and struggle than do it with him and have it turn into a huge blowout. Ei yei yei. I feel your pain. I'm glad you guys survived it.

littlepig2 · January 2014

role reversal here. DH was so calm with the PnP and I was the one freaking out. we have the 3-in-1 but it doesn't tell you to turn to a certain section for newborns so you build one whole section then have to take it apart to rebuild it for the newborn. I couldn't understand the stupid pictures and almost lost my mind!! DH was so good about it though.

JackieP1023 · January 2014

Our PnP is still in the box. We don't plan on using it right away, although this thread makes me think that putting it together sooner rather than later would be a good plan! My DH is so funny-he's typically a patient person, but certain(especially baby) things really irritate him. The crib was easy; the swing was a whole other story. I finally had to go over and help him get the cover on, because he insisted that it wouldn't fit! (Yeah, I got it on easily enough.)

JessWhatINeeded · January 2014

The part that broke was one of the little metal buttons you push down when inserting the tubes into each other, which then pops up into the hole to lock in place. I think it will be okay since he broke off one, and there is 4, 2 on each side. When it looked like he was going to break the second one I was prepared to give up on the napper. But luckily we kept it intact.

noconalove · January 2014

I assembled mine outside yesterday because it was nice out and the fresh out of the box smell was just so strong.
I don't even ask DH for help.
I ask him to come check it out when I'm done and have him 'double check' it to make sure I did it correctly. I'm really just teaching him how to use it bc of course it's put together right, I follow directions.

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