Charging for parent & child parking

embob74

bestpud wrote: »

some parents feel they have a god given right to preferential treatment, they also think it is acceptable to scratch and/or dent an innocent persons car if they don't get their bigger space!
Most retort that they don't actually hit other cars but it's a possibility dah de dah, but simply using that line indicates the selfish sense of entitlement some parents have. It's not just children who have tantrums when they don't get their own way it seems!

I believe you have misquoted me.
I am a very conscientious person and if I have parked next to a car then I do my utmost not to touch it. However the fact is that having to open a door wide enough to get a baby out of a car seat means that my car door usually touches the neighbouring car door. I would never intentionally or wilfully damage another car but I have no qualms about opening my car door wide enough to get my kids out.
If I'm unable to park in a P&C space then I do try to park on the end of a row of parking spaces so I can leave a big enough gap to be able to open both doors.
I believe I do all I can to ensure I'm not a nuisance. And I certainly would never be so judgmental as to presume a person is a bad parent due to their parking habits!!

embob74

bestpud wrote: »

What those parents are saying is: give me my space or there is a chance your car will be damaged.
In my book that is the same as having a tantrum and resorting to veiled threats in order to get ones way.

Absolutely that is what I am saying. It is not a threat but a very real possibility that I worry about every time I have to park next to a car and get both my children out.
I don't recall having a tantrum about it........it is what it is.....the fact is that supermarkets choose to provide P&C spaces. If some supermarkets chose not to that is fine by me - I would then choose not to shop there.

janninew

I must say I find the parent and child spaces to be a god-send! I don't think if I parked in a normal space I would be able to open my door far enough to get my Daughters car seat out! I have a new polo so not even that big a car! I don't take my Daughter shopping now as she screams, but when I first had her home I would use the trolleys where you attached your car seat on top, she was to small for the other types of trolleys. I remember this being discussed on an other thread and somebody suggesting that you leave your baby on the car park in their car seat whilst your reversed your car out so you had room to open your door fully! Madness!!

I do wonder why people who have older children who are walking need to park in them, I can understand parents with toddlers and prams and car seats , but I saw a lady with a girl who must have been around 11 years old use them yesterday!

At my local Asda they aren't that close to the store, they are at the back of the car park in a seperate section with walkways to the entrance. They have trolley bays very close with a variety of trolleys which are very handy when you've had a c-section, feel a bit tender and carrying a heavy car seat is hard work!

embob74

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

Or shop without a carload of kids? Surely quite possible if there are two parents? And even single parents could 'share', taking it in turns to do the shopping or the childcare.
Oh in an ideal world! Recently moved into a very rural area so nobody I can 'share' my kids with. And partner is in farming so I can never expect him to be home at any particular time.
Or use internet shopping.
I do. But there are items I need to get from the shop. Supermarkets may be selling everything from cars to insurance but I still want to squeeze my melons before buying them :rotfl:
I don't disapprove of the wider spaces, but really, they are NOT a necessity! Parents these days seem to think the world should stop because they have managed to produce little diddums!

Not a necessity but a very good way for supermarkets to entice parents to their stores. A large proportion of the community which happens to spend a lot of money so it makes sense to make them feel a little less stressed about the whole shopping experience.

Bambam

embob74 wrote: »

Please feel free to take my kids shopping with you for the day. Find a space that hasn't been parked in by somebody who has no need of extra space. Then decide whether to struggle with a baby and a young toddler to where the suitable trollies are (usually a long way away from where the normal trollies are). Then hold onto the toddlers hand while putting a wriggling baby into the trolley and fastening it with one hand.
Or you could leave two kids in the car and hope nobody steals the car while you leave them for 5 minutes to get a suitable trolley.

And when I have accidentally scratched your car as I have to access both sides of my car to get the kids in I'm sure you will find claiming on my insurance totally unnecessary?!

Happy to do so. You're not the only one to have had more than one child to get in and out of a car and fetch a trolley. What makes you so special?

Frugalista

embob74 wrote: »

Then hold onto the toddlers hand while putting a wriggling baby into the trolley and fastening it with one hand.

Why don't you just use reins?? Simples!

You do appear to be making a mountain out of a molehill.

embob74

Bambam wrote: »

You're not the only one to have had more than one child to get in and out of a car and fetch a trolley. What makes you so special?

I never declared myself to be special. I am just stating that I rely on P&C parking spaces. And it IS quite a big deal to me when there aren't any available. If people detest them so much perhaps you should write to wherever has them and ask for them to be removed or alternatively shop somewhere other than where parents who use them shop.
Jeez anyone would think I had asked for the heads of every first born child. I'm not getting personal about the people who don't believe them to be necessary, not really sure why people see fit to judge me as a person on the fact I want to park in a P&C space?! :mad:

embob74

Frugalista wrote: »

Why don't you just use reins?? Simples!
You do appear to be making a mountain out of a molehill.

Perhaps I do.
But you know what....when the kids are crying and my arthritis is playing up the mere fact of having to squeeze into the car and get kids out and then get to the other side of the car park to get a suitable trolley (while holding the baby and hoping my wrists don't give way) and then get them in the trolley and hope my toddler doesn't run into the road can seem a really big deal on some days.

embob74

Bambam wrote: »

Happy to do so. You're not the only one to have had more than one child to get in and out of a car and fetch a trolley. What makes you so special?

Forgot to ask when I can drop the kids off? lol :rotfl:

Frugalista

embob74 wrote: »

Perhaps I do.
But you know what....when the kids are crying and my arthritis is playing up the mere fact of having to squeeze into the car and get kids out and then get to the other side of the car park to get a suitable trolley (while holding the baby and hoping my wrists don't give way) and then get them in the trolley and hope my toddler doesn't run into the road can seem a really big deal on some days.

Obviously you don't if you are merely "hoping" your toddler doesn't run into the road :eek:.