The Ikea Relationship Test

On Saturday the HyWy and I went to Ikea and bought a rather large wardrobe to help us utilize our closet space better.  The wardrobe came in 3 boxes and the total weight was over 200lbs.  Once we got it home we spent 4-5 hours putting it together, which reminded me of several past experiences putting together Ikea furniture for relatives.  Most often what has happened is that I have visited someone that had bought some Ikea furniture and the wife didn't want to be involved in the building process.  In some cases the wife had tried and out of frustration differed and other times she just knew better.  Seeing as this was our second Ikea experience, but I don't recall if I was part of the first build I was curious to see how we fared in the Ikea Relationship Test. 

The Ikea Relationship Test puts two or more people in what is arguably one of the most frustrating experiences, that doesn't involve life and death decisions, and how they respond in that situation is very telling of their relationship.  The Ikea instructions, in case you have never had this experience, have no text (other than numbers) and require you to notice any little detail regarding alignment of parts.  Before starting to work on the wardrobe the first thing we did was unpack everything and sort out all the screws, bolts, dowels, etc.  Then every step of the way we both conferred the instructions and asked the other for confirmation.  Finally when steps didn't require two people one of us would work on one thing and the other was in the other room working on something else.  In the end it was the quickest assembly of furniture (of that size) I have ever experienced.  The key to stressfree Ikea assembly (and good relationships)  is simply in constant communication, attention to detail, and most importantly not fighting for control.