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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

parking spaces - mum and child

35 replies

3rdbump · 28/04/2015 14:03

I always try to avoid shopping when its busy.
So i go on a tuesday morning, well anyway this morning aldi was heaving!
There are approx 6 spaces for mother and baby close to the door then another 6 spaces even closer to the door for disabled.
So being 36 weeks pregnant, suffering with SPD and having my 2 year old with me i drove round to our usual spot at mother and baby spaces. The car i was following clearly had no children and there where other spaces available but at the back of the car park (about 10) and there where 4 disabled free places.
This older couple drove straight into the mother and baby spot! (the only one available) so i drove round again as wanted to be sure they never had kids and then stopped alongside them in my car, watched them get out - with NO kids.
Wound the window down and told them that these spaces where reserved for people with small children and then went on to say about being heavily pregnant, unable to walk far and having my 2yr old blah blah blah......they replied with "we cant walk far either - we are disabled* so i politely pointed to the FOUR unoccupied disabled places and told them to park there (they where litrally right outside the bloody supermarket doors!!) they huffed and puffed and got back in their car and drove off. They didnt have a disabled badge and parked over the other side of the car park - certainly didnt have any difficulty stomping around the supermarket huffing and puffing!!

Am not normally assertive like that but am in so much pain with walking it was either that or sit in the car and wait until a space came up!

OP posts:

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MummyPiggy87 · 28/04/2015 14:33

Good on you for standing up to them! Most people wouldn't and that's why people keep doing it! It's so annoying and selfish! It's also hard trying to squeeze out the car with a big bump when some twat has parked too close to the car so you damn well deserve to park in the reserved spaces!!

MistressKatherine · 28/04/2015 15:01

Good for you!!! I'm amazed you got a result. People can be such ignorant swines.

youlemming · 28/04/2015 15:11

Good on you. I used to say something but after numerous counts of abuse in return I do hold back now.

I also get very wound up if people sit in the car with children while the other parent goes into the shops, if you don't intend on getting the kids out no need for the additional space.

I don't use the spaces anymore as my LO is 5 now and as they are limited in number I know there will be someone with a great need than myself, but I will be using them again once the new one comes along or maybe as I get bigger if the SPD gets worse as I still need to do the seat belt for my 5 yr old and getting to it in a tight space will be more difficult.

Rebecca1608 · 28/04/2015 15:44

I have actually used a parent and baby parking space whilst shopping with my mum despite not actually being a mum myself YET therefore not having a child or children with me at the time. However, at around 6+ months pregnant with twins i had extremely bad SPD some days i struggled to get out of bed. I was in tears and awaiting a referral for physio. I used the car space when supermarket car parks were jam packed to save me walking the distance after a few minutes walking around tesco or wherever i'd be doubled over the trolley in agony without having to walk the distance of the larger car parks too. I'm almost 8 months now and SPD has gone so i use the spaces further from the shop so I agree the old people should have used their OWN spaces but don't feel bad about once using the parent and child space myself.

WhatAHooHa · 28/04/2015 15:51

I got stuck once. 8 months pregnant, with 2 year old ds in tow. Got back to the car (normal space) to find some pair of idiots had parked so closer to my car one either side that I actually couldn't get either myself or him in. Was contemplating going in through the boot until a passer -by volunteered to squeeze in (sideways on down the passenger side of the car), climbed across to the drivers' seat and reversed it out for me.

Bigbadgeorge · 28/04/2015 16:11

I'm totally with you 3rdbump, but there was a loooong thread on here recently with people complaining that parents are too 'entitled' when it comes to parent and child spaces....
Well done saying something, the best I've done is angry pregnant lady eye daggers

Original poster

3rdbump · 28/04/2015 18:30

Normally i would have drove away but not today!!

Deffo feeling more assertive and i quite like it TBH.
I then went on to write a strongly worded letter the the kids school receptionist who constantly feels the need to ring and remind me when the lunch account are about to go over due - this can mean up to 3 telephone calls per day!! If there is less than a days lunch money left on the account i get harassed! if you do need to top it up you get an automatic email from the lunch system anyway so why bloody waste my time and her time plus cost of a phone call to tell me what i already know?!!!

OP posts:

toobreathless · 28/04/2015 19:01

Going slightly against the grain here.

I can't see what they have done wrong. They clearly don't feel 'able' to park further away (for whatever reason) why are they any less entitled to that space than you?

Being pregnant or having a child does not give you a greater need to a parking space than anyone else. Those spaces are a courtesy NOT a right (like disabled ones are different) designed to lure you into the shop.

I would have absolutely no hesitation parking in a parent & child space if a relative was I able to walk the distance.

hazeyjane · 28/04/2015 19:09

It does seem harsh, considering they were going to struggle - lots of people unfortunately don't qualify for a blue badge, who probably should.

MummyPiggy87 · 28/04/2015 19:14

If they were struggling so much to walk, then like the OP already said.. How is it they are okay to strut around the shop?? Anyone who is that bad can do home delivery as another option.
If your relative was unable to walk far then drop them off and go and find a space. The point is, whether people like it or not it's a parent and toddler/baby space not a I can't walk far so I'll park here space, if that was the case everyone would be parking there. Having a baby in the backseat of a three door car means I had to open the door wide to my baby out, so I NEED the space.

hazeyjane · 28/04/2015 19:17

What's with the 'strutting' who are they, Foghorn Leghorn?!

hazeyjane · 28/04/2015 19:20

it's a parent and toddler/baby space not a I can't walk far so I'll park here space, if that was the case everyone would be parking there

not everyone, but sometimes people who struggle to walk far might park there.

southeastastra · 28/04/2015 19:20

were they strutting around the shop? lordy a bit of compassion for older people wouldn't go amiss, shouting at them like some old harridan isn't on really is it.

i have to drive mil right to the entrance, she can 'strut' around the store when she has a trolley to hold onto.

madreloco · 28/04/2015 19:24

If they were struggling so much to walk, then like the OP already said.. How is it they are okay to strut around the shop?? Anyone who is that bad can do home delivery as another option

Could say exactly the same for OP. If she could walk around the shop she could walk across the car park. They, or one of them, might have difficulty walking yet not be eligable for a blue badge at present.
Basically, OP, you yelled at elderly people in an Aldi carpark. Classy

ThinkIveBeenHacked · 28/04/2015 19:26

This is why shops need to put their P&C spaces at the back of the carpark or up the side. The convenience of them is the additional space around the car, not the proximity to the entrance.

MummyPiggy87 · 28/04/2015 19:26

Ok. I apologise.. They were stomping around the shop.
I see far too many people park there who are more than capable of walking and let others struggle, where's the compassion in that?
I would completely agree that if they were struggling to walk it would have been fair enough, but to then walk around a supermarket? Doesn't sound like struggling to me.

Raxacoricofallapatorius · 28/04/2015 19:41

It's a tough one because there are people for whom there isn't an option. My Dad has arthritis and atm it's very bad. He can't walk far at all and he's waiting for a double hip replacement. He can't get a blue badge but is trying. He genuinely cannot walk far and relies on his stick. I'm afraid I've told him to park in parent and child spaces because he needs the space to swing his legs round with the door completely open in order to be stable enough to get into a standing position. He gets quite anxious about getting shouted at by parents and is getting to the point where he won't go shopping at all. Obviously he tries for any other space first but sometimes he has no choice. Ridiculously, he takes my Grandma - who does have a blue badge - shopping with him sometimes just because he knows he can park in the disabled bay then and they can struggle round together.

madreloco · 28/04/2015 19:46

I would completely agree that if they were struggling to walk it would have been fair enough, but to then walk around a supermarket? Doesn't sound like struggling to me

Again, OP was perfectly able to then walk around the supermarket, so wasn't struggling, by your own reckoning. Biased much?

MummyPiggy87 · 28/04/2015 19:48

I agree rax, in that sort of situation where the person is actually struggling they should be able to park there.
It's the ones who park there because they just can't be bothered to find another space.

Madamecastafiore · 28/04/2015 19:48

Good for you. I was so bloody huge I had to go int the M&B spaces or couldn't open the door wide enough to get out.

MummyPiggy87 · 28/04/2015 19:49

Masreloco what are you talking about? I swear some people just come on here for an arguement.
The OP is pregnant, she has a child.
I'm not following what your talking about being biased??

madreloco · 28/04/2015 19:54

Clearly not following.
You said (twice) that if the elderly pair could go around the supermarket they weren't in any need for the space. But you think OP needs the space even though she can also go around the supermarket.
This makes no sense at all. So the only explanation is you are biased towards OP and against the old pair.

Grantaire · 28/04/2015 19:57

madreloco is making the point that the ability to walk around the supermarket does not determine need for the space. The op walked around the supermarket presumably so you cannot in one breath say one person didn't need the space because they then walked round the supermarket if the person who then got the space (op) also walked around the supermarket.

Sometimes, you just don't know why a person might need a space. There's nothing wrong with politely asking if a person needs a space but you can't start from the position of assuming that lack of child or lack of blue badge means anything at all in terms of need.

Grantaire · 28/04/2015 19:58

x-posts with madre.

MummyPiggy87 · 28/04/2015 19:59

it would be harder for the OP to have access in and out of her car with a young child and being pregnant suffering with sdp. I'm not at all biased against the elderly couple and sympathising with the OP in this particular case.

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