Parent & Child Parking bays - who should be using them?

[gmummy]

This is a subject which really gets me heated (I'm a bit sad, I know).
I think that the following people should not use these (usually limited) bays:

1. people without children - obviously, they are just lazy, self centred sh*ts!
2. people with childern over the age of 6yrs - these bays are really for people who need space to set up a pram next to the car to put their baby in or who need the space to prize their baby in it's car seat out of the car.These people's children were babies once - how can they be so inconsiderate?
3. people who think it's all right to park in the bay because they have a car seat in the car even though there's no baby in it - this is even worse (unless they are going to collect a baby from the place where they parked)!

Anybody else get worked up about this or disagree?

I agree with you gmummy, although I've never had the bottle to say anything to the people who do it! I've just bought a car with sliding back doors though, so I suppose it's questionable as to whether I should be allowed to park in them now either!

I'm new by the way, so Hi all! Mum to a gorgeous 16 month old baby boy...it's all a bit alien around here (no offence!) but I've never been on a forum that reads from bottom to top (or is it my computer that's gone wrong?!).

Hullo, anyway!

Arrgghh!

That was me posting, then deleting it and deciding not to post, then wanting to post, then fighting with myself not to post.

Then posting.

Now I am back to not posting about this subject.

Except to say that I am not posting.

I'll break with MN convention and say - I do think people shoud respect parent and child spaces for a multitude of reasons, but I don't get overly worked up about it...life being short and all that.

(I like to straddle both camps, me!)

Thanks winestein. ...must...step...away... but your butter toffee coating is mighty good.

gmummy i agree that p+c spaces should be for parents with small children as they need space to fold out pushchair, esp if struggling toddler! it really p's me off that people who don't have children can't be bothered to use one of the plenty of parking spaces that are provided for them - are they so lazy they can't walk an extra few metres (in some cases)? in town, in the main shopping centre car park, there are only a few spaces available for p+b parking and most of these have been taken up by people with no children in the car

Mmmm, butter toffee coating, (homer simpson style drool)

Thanks for that jajas! Much better!

Hi LemonDrizzlCake - another newbie like me! I guess this is probably a bit of an explosive one and I should have known if it gets me all het up - I'm usually fairly placid.
My DD is 13mths by the way and I feel completely alien around here since I've never had a pc at home till 3mths ago and had never been on a forum in my life!

Be gentle with me everybody

Ohhh, Gmummy.... you have no idea how gently you are being treated
It is nothing short of a phenomenon and a beautiful sight to see!

I really do need the wider space to lift ds' carseat out ... I put the carseat into a trolley without waking ds ... If no P&C space is available, I have to park far away where it has less cars and then lug the carseat all the way to the trolley area - which is knackering because I am small-sized.

But am fine with lifting dd from carseat into buggy even with a small space. Don't seek out P&C space in this instance.

hmmmm ...

On the other hand, where is everyone???

I have no willpower.
Hi
As an eg., my nearly-eight-year-old ds2 looks pretty
'normal' a lot of the time. He's autistic and is incomparably more difficult to get safely across a car park than dd who's 2. Even if I only have him with me I always park in a pt space. I see the looks; I'm not going to explain, instead I'm going to (again) tell myself that either most people will assume I have a good reason, or that it doesn't matter. Not having a go, not cross, but you can't always tell what's going on for someone you don't know. Winestein, can gmummy have some popcorn? Cup of tea, anyone?

my 4 year old who looks 6+ isnt safe around cars. usually not a problem as have dh with us, who has a blue badge, dd2 doesnt (waiting again for DLA), so will use p+t spaces for her if she is in a twirling mood (everyday lately), but tend not to bother. she prefers me to park on the top level of the multi storey so she can see the twees(treees)anyway.

oh darn i posted.

i also have a dd3 who is 20months. cant remember when we last used a p+t space btw.

ahhhh, saintmaybe, I understand now ... for the looks.

Now I'm going to bed. 'Night all

Oh no probs! Gmummy... you have to test the butter coating. It wouldn't go down too well on the health front, but in light of recent threads the butter is organic
That's kind of where the whole thing takes off Gmummy. The overlap between those that really need to be next to the store and those taking advantage of a perk. And it really really does go mad....

My DS looks normal, to the eye, until he walks. He is nearly 9, has cerebral palsy and yes I have used the P&B spaces when there is no disabled bays (he has a blue badge)
Damn I posted.....

serah- if you find your way here if you're still willing please can you CAT me re: a disabled bay outside the house. I feel to cheeky to CAT you out of the blue! Saw a SW today and mentioned that I can't go out wiith all 3 because I can't guarantee I can get back in the house- impossible if I have to park around the corner. She said "ah well I suppose it will get easier as he gets older" (pointing to ds3- who isn't yet 2!! So we have a way to go, although I take her point).

Anwyay am going to write to them- it's getting dangerous, but obviously will be much better if you can tell me the law

Not trying to be competive btw, just I know Serah loves the parking threads.....

gmummy-thie trick with always getting a p and t spot is to either go shopping at 9amish, or 3pm ish (school pick up/drop off time). They're aplenty at that time.

you know JJ... I think she might just find her way here...

I think only astronauts who have lost their way should be allowed to park in P&T spaces.

what about naughty meeces?

oh I hope she starts quoting feet and inches (metres and cm?) And double yellow lines, and dropped curbs etc. I was thinking about her today.

On a kind of parking front, once again someone revved their engine aggressively this morning when ds1 was getting on his school bus. Idiot.

Kerbs, JJ, kerbs