Parent and child parking! 12 and 9 year old?!

[AnySecondNow]

Just had a row with a woman in Tesco car park. I waited 15 minutes for parking - have to carry a fairly solid 6 month old to the shop (post cesarean - still not 100%!)

Anyway, this family were parked in child and parent bay with a 12 year old and a 9 year old. Both very capable of walking and opening doors! I commented that she was rude to park there, she said she was entitled to. Then her husband complained about me to the management!!!

Wtf!? Ainu??! Parent and child surely means young child that needs assistance??!

I always park in parent and child spaces with my 9 year old. The ones by me specify it's for under 12's so why the hell wouldn't I!? I'm just as entitled as anyone else is to use these spaces if it is actually specifying it's for under 12's, and that's what he is if someone said something to me I'd just think they were being a bit OTT and would ignore them to be honest.

Elland What I took offence to was your complete lack of thought. So, a child jumps out of a car. Doesn't mean everything is fine with said child. There are all manner of difficulties that are not instantly visible. Perhap you could think about that before you judge and patronise.

If you're still suffering from your c section 6 months later, to the point you struggle to carry your 6 month old, don't you have bigger things to worry about?

I park in them with my children. They are not babies. As long as I'm not breaking the law then I can't see what the problem is. I find the bigger spaces easier to get in and out to be honest.

So what!! My daughter is 7 and sometimes we park in p&c sometimes we dont...get over it how people coped without them for years i will never know.

YABU. She is just as entitled to park there as you

I think once your child is able to fasten themselves in then you shouldn't be parking in parent & child spaces. The spaces are designed wider to allow for car seats, why can't people be reasonable to people with small children that need the extra room to get them in safely, 9 and 12 are far too old to use them.

Just because you're entitled to use something doesn't mean you should. If your children are fit and able to safely get out of the car and walk into tesco themselves then park in a normal space. I would imagine most children are from age 5 and up.

I use p&c spaces when with my 12 and 8 year olds, why the hell not. First come first serve I say!

Oh god here we go again.

I think up to 12yo, which the supermarket's websites seem to support is reasonable. I have had 10yo's fling the door open fast and smash other car's doors so I am grateful for wide spaces when parking with children! With older childen mainly to protect other cars but up to 7ish to make sure the seat belt is fastened properly as we have had hbb that need to be checked by an adult to make the belt safe.

9 and 12 are far too old to use them.

Apart from the fact supermarkets allow them to, whether you like it or not.

I often wonder whether supermarkets ever rue the day they introduced these spaces into their car-parks. What a monster they have created! I've witnessed many confrontations over the years; some justified, but most haven't been. Surely the supermarket is to blame here if there are no signs indicating age limits, so it's the system that's at fault, not the parents who are just following the rules to the letter.

Gosh, OP, I don't know why so many people are giving you a hard time on here (and, in some cases, being inexcusably rude). I wouldn't dream of parking in a parent and child space with able-bodied older children - why take something you don't need?

You're recovering from a major operation, you're carrying a heavy baby in a car seat - you are EXACTLY the sort of person those designated spaces should be for. I suggest you write to the supermarket head office saying you find the attitude of your local branch unhelpful and suggesting they specify babies/toddlers/children with disabilities on the signs so the spaces are only used by those in need.

Shamefully my Dad parked with me in a parent and child in M&S not to long ago. I'm 23 angry I was livid

Oh that made me laugh

And, I might add, my children would have been hugely embarrassed at the age of 9 and 12 if I'd parked in parent and child spaces because they were with me.

I think it's also the case that if you, as a mother of older children, don't park there, there will always be someone else with equally older children who will come and park there, so even if you think it's wrong, you will still do it because everyone else does. A bit like when you're abroad on holiday, and you complain on the first day about everyone reserving sun beds with towels at 6o'clock the morning; but then start to do it yourself because everyone else does it anyway, even though you know it's wrong and unfair.

cinnamontoast

They were children. They are also exactly the type of people who the bays are designed for.

Neither you nor the OP know if they had disabilities either.

The local branch did nothing wrong.

OP had absolutely no right to tackle the people to such an extent that they felt they had to go back into the store to fetch management! Completely not on in any way shape or form.

Re taking car seats in, it's not rocket science a) if you have a tiny baby they can't sit in the trolley seat and the hard plastic baby seats don't seem comfy and b) if they are asleep which most little ones are after a car trip, I'd want to keep them that way as long as possible by taking the car seat out rather than waking them by moving them to a different seat.

You had a row over a parking space!!!
How to stay classy.

I never used them. I have my spot that i had before DCs and stull use noe which is at the side if the shop away from the front door. No one parks there so i have as much space as i want. No one is walking past me with trolleys as i try to drive away.
Beats fighting over a p&c space!

"Why the hell not? First come, first serve I say!"

Because someone might actually need the extra space because they have babies or toddlers and the extra space provides safety at the side of the car whilst they're getting them out perhaps?

Ah, fuck it. I know someone like you and realise that her and her family are far more important in their own minds than the rest of society. She's got her good points too though.

Who knows, you might even be her. You still on for Friday bud?

YABU, wildly
You have NO IDEA if her need was greater than yours.
Though why car parks can't be designed so they are easy and safe for everyone to use, I know not

P&C spaces are much the same as 9 items or less tills, they rely on the goodwill of the customers and if people don't play along you'll find there's little the stores will do.
I use P&C spaces when I'm with my DD (8), I like the extra space, I don't use them in Morrisons because theirs are for parent and toddler! When my DD isn't with me, I park really far away at the quietest part of the car park where there are no other cars- when I get back, guaranteed, some twunt is parked right next to me.

I joked with DS1..aged 29 that I should park in a P&C place...after all he is my 'child' enough mners think their adult DC are children anyway
I have a disabled DH, it annoys me when P&C are closer than disabled...having children to get in/out is inconvenient yes but not something that requires being by the doors of the building...put the places far end of car park with loads of room all round, marked paths to entrance...

I get the fact that you can use them, but whatever happened to compassion for others. Everyone who has had small children knows how hard it is getting them in and out of the car so why be difficult when there are loads of other spaces you can use instead of making a mum with young children's day even harder than it needs to be. My dd is 12 and I would never park in a parent child space.