Measurements? What measurements?

I really should learn to read measurements properly before I purchase items. Today was a reminder of my latest measurement mishap and why I shouldn't be allowed to order items that need measuring, without supervision!

I mean what could possibly go wrong buying some toddler goal posts? I thoroughly researched the goal posts, (or so I thought) I read the reviews and ordered the ones with the best reviews. I was extremely excited when the goal posts arrived as my daughter loves football and scoring goals, she is very good at it, so I couldn't wait to see her face when I set them up. That was until I opened the box and saw them, the ants were going to be happy with their new goal posts. The photos on the product listing, made it look like the goal posts were just a little bigger than a toddler! They had Messi's name on them, surely, he wouldn't endorse such a thing as goal posts for ants?

Apparently, I also didn't read the memo that stated that the goal posts were only allowed to go where my daughter wanted them to go, so not at either end of the garden, and that any attempt to put them anywhere other than where she wanted them to go, would result in immediate removal and relocation of said items. Normally the posts are dragged to their "correct" location, but today, just to further demonstrate the ridiculousness of their size, and to further demonstrate my lack of awareness regarding measuring items, my daughter decided to use them as an accessory...a hat...

My daughter loves to play football with the biggest ball she can find, a basketball, so the ant size ball that came with it was another win for the ants! She was not impressed with its inadequacy and was adamant that the basketball would fit inside the ant's goal, which it did, just. Luckily, the posts were not a complete waste of money, the ants have been very appreciative...

Previous measuring mishaps of minute items include the doll's house bathroom cupboard I insisted we get, which I have never lived down! I decided this was the bathroom cupboard we needed, a nice corner cabinet. To be fair we bought it in B & M so I couldn't research it, which went against every fibre of my being, I am the research queen...but I guess sometimes you have to take a gamble, be a little spontaneous, have some faith, and ignore your partner when they say it's going to be too small...and then live with the words "I told you so!"

However, I didn't start off buying items that were too small, my first two measuring disasters were items that were too big.

First there was the sofa...I fell in love with a corner sofa that had lots of cushions. We had measured the space that we had to fit the sofa into. I checked the measurements of the sofa in the shop but I still somehow managed to end up with a sofa that partly blocked the kitchen door as it was too big. My penance for this, I constantly walk into it!

Then came the chest of drawers I had fallen in love with, I remember looking at the photo of the chest of drawers and thinking this looks like it will fit beautifully under my bedroom windowsill. I may have measured and checked the measurements regarding the length but that was about it...It was a stunning chest of drawers, which fitted under my windowsill, however, now I must breathe in to get past it, and when it's pitch black, this is not ideal, my toes can tell a story or two...

To give myself some credit, I am not a complete lost cause, prior to the goal post disaster, I did manage to correctly measure the garden and a climbing frame to make sure it would fit in the corner of the garden. I measured and checked the diagram's instructions a million times; I even drew a diagram; I was determined to not have a repeat of the doll's house cupboard fiasco. My other half did not sleep well until the frame was put together; my measurements were not to be trusted. Worst case scenario, it would fit in a different area of the garden, but it would take up most of the garden, making it difficult to entertain guests. We would have to talk over, under and around the climbing frame, not ideal.

Have I learned my lesson that I should be supervised when shopping? That is the million-dollar question...Watch this space...