Something that has been niggling away at me recently has turned from a small little voice, easily ignored to something that actually gets me mumbling and grumbling-OUT LOUD-to myself. Yes, it's actually tipped me over the edge, it's finally happened!
I'm going to cut to the chase with this one, no nice intro, I'm too cross-I'm hopping mad about the situation with 'Parent and Children' parking. In my two years of parenthood there is only one other thing that's made me this cross, and that was when my son was very poorly and doctors wouldn't take me seriously, saying it was just a tummy bug...eventually he ended up vomiting blood, me calling an ambulance and ending up in and out of hospital for months...so you see, it's got me THAT mad! Yes-traffic wardens, gobby idiots on bikes etc-today I warn you to avoid this very angry mummy!
My son is two years old, he has a car seat, and a push chair when we go out. Therefore those special parking bays with a wide frame are exactly what I need to be able to get him in and out of the car easily. Like most parents, when I go to the supermarket etc the parents and children parking section is the first place I try when looking for an empty space. More often than not, there isn't a spare space as apparantly stores only allow between five and ten parents with young children at a time-or so you would think considering that's how many spaces they provide for us. So most of the time, unless lady luck is smiling down on me, I end up parking in a normal space. Which for the most part is ok, it's just something you get on with. This is when the little niggle starts-I would be the one in trouble if I damaged/scratched/banged another car trying to get my son in and out, wouldn't I? It would be my fault, and yet really I can't just leave him in the car-tempting as it is when he's having a tantrum, and sometimes it is not easy to manouvre a 2 year out of a door that only opens about 20cm! But what can you do?
So rewind to last week. Two things happened that set me off about this. The first being at my local Garden Centre. A large outdoor shopping village with more parking than you can shake a stick at. Again, only about 10 parent spaces, only three of which are actually close to the shops-which by the way you-people-who-design-carparks is not helpful when you need to nip in and out of somewhere at super speed due to screaming toddler. I don't mind so much but your customers may have a problem listening to my sons ear-piercing cry for longer. Pah. Now, at this specific Garden Centre there are about 30 disabled spaces. Now I don't have any problems with disabled spaces, I understand the need for them more than most with everything that's happened to Joshua's Dad. BUT what happened made my hackles rise. A lady with a disabled badge in her car parked in one of the parent and children spaces. She had no children with her. Not only did she park in one, but she parked in one of the three closest to the shops and not one of the empty disabled space only a few meters away. Bold as brass she walked off...I think I went puce biting my tongue! Another lady had also pulled up in to a parent space with her daughter, we looked at each other and I couldn't hold it in! Luckily she was on the same page as me and rightly said that the lady in question would be the first to pull us up if we parked in one of 'her' disabled spaces with out children! Applause, totally correct! For those of you who may say she didn't realise, she totally did! The swift look over her shoulder totally gave her knowledge level away. But being a good-twenty-something-mummy I kept my mouth shut to her.
Two days later parking at the supermarket and this time waiting in a car queue for a parent space as this particular supermarket has bays only wide enough for pencil, I swear! What do I see but a lady with three MUCH older children in her car. When I say much older, I mean all of secondary school age here. In she went, parent and child space occupied. By this point my brain was used to telling my face to flush a familiar shade of red with parent-parking-anger-syndrome. All three kids jumped out and sauntered off, practicing their cool swagger. Mother seemingly oblivious to her mistake. Yes, you read that right-her mistake. To me, this is wrong!!
Parent and Child spaces in my mind are designed for people with young children, people who need the extra width around their car to get children in car seats, in and out properly without damaging cars around them. In winter, a swift wind can rip round you and back the door swings, denting the car aside yours-bring on an apologetic note and payment invoice for someone else's car, or utter guilt if you don't confess at all. As the mother of a two year old, it's easier for me to park here, and seriously, I need some things in life to be easy because Lord knows, parenting a toddler is no easy task!
Last year I drove to Sainsburys without Joshua in the car to collect him. I parked in a parent space as although he wasn't with me when I pulled up, I was there to collect him so he would be with me on the shopping trip and afterwards getting back in the car...yes, you guessed it-I got a parking ticket for violating the use of a parent space!!! Obviously I refused to pay it, I appealed to the parking vendor who swiftly stopped replying to my emails, and obviously they don't talk to you about appeals on the phone-heaven forbid they may have to admit they make mistakes. Months went by until the ticket had gone up to over £250 and my employer removed the money from my wages as it was about to go to court-bring it on, I thought! (I had a company car at the time) My employer had the right to do this as they didn't want their name being bought to court, but I was so mad with the decision to pay up, I think it hurt my pride more than anything and made me fall from my high horse...a little.
In my experience Morrisons are the only place to have got it right. Their parent parking section is called the 'Parents & Baby/Toddler' parking. This makes a clear definition on who is allowed to use the space and who shouldn't. Because technically we are all 'children' so at Tesco's would my mum be allowed to use a parent and child space if I was in the car with her? Ok, an extreme there but still, you get the point! On looking on their website Tesco's say their child limit is age 5, so if your child is over this age you can't park in a parent space and Asda say age 12 but who checks this online before shopping?! Most people read the sign and use it to satisfy their guilt, that actually, it's ok to park there with a car full of 3 teenagers etc.
So as a parent, I'VE been fined for using a space provided for my use, I watch others abuse the space which is designed to help ME and not THEM. And I regularly fell like large stores are looking a gift horse in the mouth with this, mothers make the buying decisions in their households-(don't we ladies?!) and we do the shopping most of the time, and here we are given a half baked idea of parking ease...when I say half baked I mean-baked so badlly it's still soggy in the middle! It's juts not fair. So people of Peterborough I warn you, if I see you misusing a space, no longer will I bite my lip and turn my puce coloured, angry cheek-you may get a swift winding down of the window and a question about your genuine right to the space. If you give me a cheeky answer back I cannot be held responsible for my actions!
Warning (and rant) over.
Love Chloe xx
...Still puce coloured after seeing this picture taken in Wales! What hope do we have?!
