In thinking mother and baby places should not be used by those without children not pregnant etc and then laugh about it treating it as a joke!!

[2luvlyboys]

PILs park in the mother and baby space all the time as a matter of course using the fact they have a child seat in there as an excuse!! Never take my dcs shopping never why would they? That is very very unreasonable imo and makes me ! They have been challanged about it and they say they make a joke about they left the kids at home!
Observant ones will notice I put this on another thread but then thought it deserves an aibu in its own right iyswim!

There was a motorbike parked in the parent and child bay in Tesco last week. I was sooooooooooo annoyed.

but Expat is right.

P&T spaces aren't the law you know??
I just don't understand the anger over them.....

Agree, TheHedgWitch.

I can understand it is not the end of the world. But at the same time, I don't understand the anger with which expat puts her views across and her distaste for those less familiar with these boards than her. Not the winning formula for changing minds.

attila made a good point about all parkingspaces being put in at an angle, because it makes the whole thing easier and you probably would get as many spaces into a carpark as there are now.....but.....it would be easier to get parked and the need for wider spaces at least would not be there....

and for those that comment about people being precious.....well....when I did use p&t it was never about wanting to feel special or stupid s**t like that, it was about safety, because carparks can be dangerous places for Toddlers, and if I didn't have to cross the whole parking lot, my ms had less chance to get run over....

I, personally never used them when out with only one child, because then I would just park in all those empty spaces at the back of a car park....it never bothered me!With only 1 child with me, I knew I could keep them save.

Get rid of all the mother/child spaces and just have normal parking with plenty of disabled spaces.

We have had cars now for years yet these spaces havent been around nowhere near as long and we all managed before.

We have never used them, a normal space is fine. I dont need to park outside the door in case I melt in the rain or cant carry millions of accessories.

No other places have them so do people not take their cars to garden centres etc as there is no "special" parking?

So I'm precious because I don't like to get drenched in the rain and criticised for carrying a nappy bag? Lucky you if you can get in and out in 40 minutes - sometimes with queues it can take a lot longer than that and personally I don't like to leave my child in a soiled nappy if I can help it. Who has said I carry millions of accessories? JimJam and Expat, love the way you get so het about about someone parking in a P&C space - does it really upset you that much if someone's life is made a little bit easier? As someone commented above, there are usually a number of disabled spaces which are empty.

Er no there often aren't disabled spaces empty in my experience.

I don't get het up, just find it amusing at the justifications people use for having their extra special little space.

If safety is a concern (and I agree it can be), it is far far safer to park near the back, near a trolley park and fetch the trolley. I sometimes park near the back with ds1 (who has a blue badge - in part for safety reasons) because it is easier than trying to dodge the mentalist princess mothers with their sights aimed on a P&T space cluttering up the access to disabled spaces.

I don't know how you manage to get drenched in the rain in a car park- and really you are no more likely to rust than all those other people without children who don't need special places. An umbrella must drip irritatingly all the way around Tesco.

Life can be quite simple you know? It doesn't have to be difficult.

I find the justifications amusing too. What makes me PMSL is the fact that we've survived without P&T spaces for the past millenia. LOL at the thought of my dm moaning about P&T spaces back in the 70s.

Why people just can't crack on with their shopping when they have a child is a mystery to me.

JimJam, please don't patronise me! I do know life can be simple - thanks for pointing that out although can you explain to me how I juggle a trolley and a buggy at the same time? Do I just grow an extra pair of arms? Please also come with me and point out all the empty spaces at the back of the Waitrose I go to - dammed if I can see them. And yes, it's very easy to get drenched in a five minute walk from one side of the car park to the shops and it is much more difficult to hold an umbrella if you have a baby than if you don't have one, plus if DS is in the Baby Bjorn as he often is then I like to avoid him getting a drenching too, or is that also precious? I've also never seen any mothers blocking the disabled spaces.

It can be done Gangle. My dd is in a wheelchair, so if I have a trolley with me it just takes a bit more time. It is feasible .

Alternatively, you could park next to/ near a trolley bay, and then plonk your dc straight into the trolley.

1. why on earth have you got a buggy and a trolley at the same time ?
2. why is it taking you 5 minutes to walk across a car park.
3. Babies don't rust either and if they're in the sling you won't be needing to push a buggy and a trolley and you can wrap your coat around, or run. Or indeed you would have 2 hands free to hold your umbrella and then can pick up a trolley at the entrance.

See simple.

You really are making something that is extraordinarily easy (shopping) into something very difficult.

Maybe some people don't find it as easy as you Chonky. Maybe for some just getting out of the house in the early months is a challenge and really don't need to be scorned for daring to use a P&C space!

I think our approaches are too pragmatic eh Jimjams ?

And if Waitrose is that difficult to park in go somewhere else. I never go anywhere where parking is difficult with ds1 as I know he'll attempt to give himself concussion if we have to drive around and look for a space. Shops or car parks that don't provide enough spaces don't get our business.

These are not difficult 'problems' to work around.

Perhaps we have too much other stuff going on chonky (oh whoops not allowed to say that).

Chonky, DS can't sit up yet so can't put him in the trolley. JimJam, you said in your post above that I should park at the back and get a trolley - just explaining why I can't juggle a trolley and a buggy. Either DS is in the sling and I take a trolley or he is in the buggy and I carry the shopping. Is is possible the car park is quite big, hence why it takes a long time to cross? It's often not a 30 second dash. Also just explaining why I need to use an umbrella as I was being called precious for that. This really is mumsnet as its worse - scornful, scary and judgemental.

I hasten to add that I don't leave my dd in a soiled nappy either. Just for the record .

In answer to the OP, It's a pain yes but I think YABU to be SO pissed off about it. Sometimes life is too short to carry round this kind of anger about something you probably can't change. Have a rant then let it go as you probably will never stop people from doing it.

Off the topic slightly - but a couple of posts mentioned the need for parking when they were heavily pregnant. I couldn't agree more.
I am a casual lecturer at a university and they provide temporary permits to park in the disabled parking bays for women in their third trimester. How about that for an idea? Temporary disabled parking permits for all women in their third trimester of pregnancy? (not saying that pregnancy is a disability of course - but its bloody hard work!) Shall we lobby??
It was so important for me as it was a struggle to walk too far and I was still teaching two days before I was due (crazy I know!)

Gangle - read this thread with growing amazement. You do know you can get the trolleys you can put the car seat in? Or just put the car seat in the main bit of the trolley? Or the trolleys with the special seats for infants?

This country - especially when it comes to supermarkets - is really very child-friendly. Certainly the world is more geared up to buggies than wheelchairs, perhaps because there's more buggies than wheelchairs? I don't know.

But really, you Don't Need All That Stuff. Trust me. I know it's easy to overcompensate when dc are tiny - but it gets much easier as they get older (and you lose the PFB-ness a teeeeeeeny bit?? )

So he's either in the sling or a buggy? So why on earth do you need the space at all. If they're limited leave them for someone with kamikaze 2 year old twins!

There really is no car park in the land that takes 5 minutes to walk across - not even somewhere like Ikea. And if it did then the sling/buggy use is going to mean that isn't a problem anyway.

Seriously in the scales of need- mothers of one small baby are the one's who 'need' P&T spots the least (although I would argue that parents really don't need them at all).

I would swap supermarkets though. When mine were small I went to Sainsbury's because they provide lie down trolleys & car seat trolleys. I used to faff around waiting for a car seat one with ds1, but with the other 2 I just took a blanket and lay them down in the reclined seat trolleys.