Mum Annoyances - Number One!

Before having Elliot I was very easy going and it would take a lot to wind me up. Nowadays, I'm still pretty easy going but there's a few things that really do make me angry as a mum, and the more they happen the more irritated I become! So at the top of my list is...

THE MIS-USE OF THE PARENT/CHILD PARKING SPOTS! 

The parent/child parking bays are alot bigger than a normal spot and this is SO important when trying to get a carseat or toddler out of the car. Our cars are getting bigger these days and a normal space just doesn't give you enough space to open the door wide if you have someone parked next to you. 

These spots are usually located near the doors to the supermarket which is a bonus but not a necessity, I'd quite happily park further away in a wider spot if I knew I wasn't going to get jammed in! Unfortunately due to their close proximity to the doors, some people who don't have young children in the car seem to think they can park there if they can't be bothered to walk 5 steps further from the normal parking spots!  

It's not just people without children though, I've seen families pull into the spaces with kids around 10/11 or even worse teenagers and they think this is ok! Surely if a child is old enough to get in and out of his seat and exit the car on his own then a extra wide parking spot is not needed. 

Some mums think that if they park in the spots but then leave their husband and kid in the car then this is also fine - surely this defeats the object of having to park there in the first place! I saw a lady just yesterday who pulled into the only parent/child spot in the carpark. She got out, locked the car and went to use the cash point. Meanwhile, we had to squeeze into a little tiny space and try and manoeuvre a wriggling toddler out without bashing the car next to us! I must admit, it did make me very angry and I actually went up to the woman and asked her if she knew the parent/child spots were for people with children!! She looked mighty annoyed that I'd questioned her and said actually her child was sat in the car. Er ok, and you needed that space why?! (I know why, because she was a lazy so&so who wanted to get to the cash point fast!) 

On another occasion at my local Sainsburys, we pulled into the carpark but all the parent/child spots were taken. At the time, Elliot was only very young and we were having to get the carseat out each time so a parking spot with more room was very useful. After we parked in a normal spot, we noticed that there was a lady parked up in the parent/child bays and she didn't have any kids in the car, she was just sat there reading the paper.  My dad was with me and he's not one to mince his words or stay quiet and he knocked on her window and asked her what she was playing at! She replied that she was due to pick her grandchild up shortly from the nearly school and that was why she had parked in that particular spot. And basically as she was picking up "a child" it gave her every right to park there!! My dad quickly put her in her place and funnily enough she moved her car!! 

Apparently Asda can issue a £50 Parking Charge Notice if someone is found misusing the parent/child spots but I don't know how strict they are about this. The wardens are never around when you want them to be!! 

Would you confront someone if they were parked in the parent/child bay and didn't have kids? (I normally hate confrontation but I wouldn't hesitate to say something these days!)