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??!

Decades ago they didn't have car seats or even seat belts so it was so much easier to get little kids out of car seats. Also less cars and narrower cars.

OP may have been thinking of Thornton v Shoe Lane with the contract point:

www.e-lawresources.co.uk/Thornton-v-Shoe-Lane-Parking.php

But that's v different to this situation - esp as she didn't pay to park, so there's no consideration and no ticket with terms and conditions!

If only some people wouldn't be so selfish - and I would put a parent with 9 and 12 year olds who have no additional needs in that category (of course here we don't know if that's the case) - then the spaces would only be used by those who genuinely need them and nobody would ever need to question that need.

Op I think you should see a doctor, if you are not well six months after a c section that doesn't seem right

reup that is bollocks. Loads of places don't have parent and child parks and normal people unafflicted by entitlement manage just fine. Live a little and park without whining.

PEACE AND LOVE
That is all

Legally (as in according to most sign posts near parent and child car parking spaces) you can park in them until your youngest child is 10 (12 in some places) so she did technically have every right to be there....

That said, I wouldn't dream of it once my kids are that age as I've been that parent with 3 kids under the age of 5 having to trek half way across a busy supermarket car park due to some twat without 'young children' using up the kids spaces.

Have to say though that accosting someone in a car park about parent and child parking will open a can of worms every time...People are funny about these spaces, a row will start every time so beware!!!

I use them, my dd is 9.

YANBU these spaces are designed for perents with young children that have to get them in and out of car seats into Prams etc. Some do actually specify under 6! That aside I think it is just commen sence that if you aren't going to have trouble getting your children in and out without needing more room and into the store that you don't need to use it.

You can't say if they are the perant and they are the child that the age is irrelevant as when does that end, they will always be their child.

PEACE AND LOVE on a thread about P&C parking, Olivia ?

That was supposed to be grin, not gin! and are terribly similar to type.

I think it's about being reasonable, unfortunately not everybody is. The rules are not always clear on parent and child spaces. If I had seen you struggling with a baby I would have parked elsewhere. They were petty to report you in my view.

I think they were taking the piss parking there but technically they weren't in the wrong as annoying as it may be.

@DogMama89 that made me 😂😂 about your Dad parking with you at M&S

The problem with this one is that children don't all age the same. Also there is no legal right the parent and child parking, I see plenty of people with no kids at all parking in them which is rude but I don't have a go at them because it's not a legal right to have them in the first place.

My children are 4 and 8 and I still use parents and child spaces because my 4 year old can't do her seatbelt herself (although she is the more road conscious of the two) which brings me to my second reason. The extra space is not just for manoeuvring car seats but also to give kids a big of a "buffer" between other cars. My son 8 has been told how to cross a road nearly every day for the past 8 years but I swear to god he is still the least streetwise child I ever have come across! My daughter half his age will happily hold my hand and walk sensibly, shell even walk sensibly and check for cars without holding my hand but my son has been known to step right into oncoming traffic while I'm making a grab for him and have been saying stop for the last five meters. We've even tried the "embarrassing" him route of wearing baby reins etc because he won't listen but it's not because he's playing up he just seems to have trouble learning things as he is also very slow in school. Anyway the point of this long winded thing is that a child who is older could have various reasons for the mother wanting to use a parent and child space. I wouldn't have dared call them rude when they are perfectly entitled to use the space whether inconsiderate or not.

Not deleting the posts which are talking about 'disabled' people or the ones where people with PFBs are raging about children with hidden disabilities taking their spaces then @presidentoliviamumsnet?

You know I love you but you really should you know. If MNHQ doesn't tolerate disablism then it doesn't. And those posts are disablist.

If older children can easily let themselves in and out of the car and do up their own belt with no hidden disabilities then parents are unreasonable to park in a p and c space. I say that because my DS and my DS both have disabilities that require surgery. They don't have a permanent mobility problem but because they are under the age of three they can't even get a temporary blue badge even though the surgery they require makes it impossible to walk. I really wish the government would stop discriminating against disabled children. Until that time I need to use p and c spaces when my children are in post operation plaster casts and can't get out of the car unless I have access to one.

To jerry ferry

It's not bollocks - car seat laws have change over the decades, so have car seat belt laws. You can tell from garages how cars have grown in size. But carry on being rude and unpleasant you must enjoy it.

Given that's a personal injury case, it's not really relevant.

Yes YABU...firstly, they are still kids and entitled to park there (Tesco advertise til 12yrs). Secondly, no one actually NEEDS that space, it's convenient and it's safer yes, but we all managed before supermarkets did that. You just carry the 6 month old to a trolley, and push him or her into the supermarket.

Did the 9 and 12 yr old need it...probably not, but none of us, including you, know that situation.

Here Here JugglyTuff .

I've seen whole threads get deleted over less.

These threads make me so cross.
Yes the spaces are a courtesy.
They might be a marketing ploy but the truth is, it is easier to wrestle tinies into car seats and in and out of cars when there is more space around you.
No, they didn't use to exist but now they do and are incredibly helpful and do make life a little easier. To knowingly take up a space like this when you don't really need it and so are making someone else's day more difficult is therefore really rather selfish.
If there is a reason why you definitely need the extra space or the close proximity to the store then of course you should use it.
What causes these threads to go around in circles is people tarring everyone who doesn't have very small children but who uses p&c spaces with the same brush.
Some people may not have small children but do have other issues which necessitate extra room or close proximity. Others need neither the room or the proximity but just choose to knowingly inconvenience others.
If everyone was just a little more considerate and thought about the impact of their choices, attitudes and actions on others then these threads wouldn't exist.
I have three little ones ranging from 9 months to just turned six. I do most of my shopping online or locally but if I do need an unavoidable trip to the supermarket then these spaces are very useful.
To knowingly take up a space which is meant to help others when you have no reason whatsoever to do so really is inconsiderate and selfish.
Yes it is possible for me to park at the rear of the car park with plenty of space around me to get my three in and out and then walk pushing a trolley containing the baby whilst guiding two small children through a busy car park but it's a hell of a lot easier to have a space in p&c.
And on the subject of older children (with no additional needs) who 'bang doors so need extra space'; the rear of the car park where there is more space and then the walk across the car park would surely be a more considerate option than taking up a p&c space? Older children (without additional needs) don't need help strapping themselves in to car seats; have at least some awareness/road sense; are more visible to other car park users; and can be trusted a little more than very young children in the same situation.
When I'm with my six year old, I never use a p&c space because it's easy to get just her in and out and I know others would be struggling more than me. When I'm with my three year old and/or my baby then I do try and get one.
Come on people, consideration, thoughtfulness and a little more selflessness would make everywhere (not just the car parks) nicer places.

JigglyTuff
Just because you say they are 'disablist' doesn't automatically make them 'disablist', you know. Just because I put 'disabled' and 'disablist' in 'quotes' doesn't make me 'disablist'. My husband suffers from Crohn's, my son is autistic and I'm aspergers - should I now say you're being 'disablist' because you want my comment removed?! Yes, that's how ridiculous you're being!!

Just because I put 'disabled' and 'disablist' in 'quotes' doesn't make me 'disablist'

Referring to a child with autism severe enough to warrant a blue badge as 'disabled' is out of order, regardless of your family's medical history.

If you had to wait 15 minutes for parking then presumably it was quite busy. I've an 11 yo and 7 month old. I parked in parent and child until 11 yo was out of car seat (some years ago) and started using them again when I was almost 9 months pregnant (and couldn't get out of the car in a normal space!) If someone had asked me nicely when my son was a bit older I'd have given up the space for someone with a younger child, but otherwise I'd just enjoy it as a free perk of having a child with me to shop with! It does however massively annoy me when people without children use them and I would comment too, but more to myself, or to my child, look at that rude lady etc. That said I'd never comment if it was someone elderly or with a disability! Although near us the number of disabled parking spaces vastly outweighs the number of disabled people wanting to use said spaces and by and large it's taxis and luxury car drivers that plonk themselves in these spaces, which is twat ish too!

sparklycurtainpole it's also possible to tell someone they think they're being unreasonable without it escalating to the extent the strangers DH felt the need to involve management. By their own admittance.

Well notquite since your post is among several which have been deleted it seems that MNHQ considered it disablist.