'Parent parking spaces should be for those with kids 5 and under'

Why is this woman so bothered by what happened? And why did she... draw a diagram?

Nothing gets people hot under the collar as much as parent parking spaces and a new mum has definitely stoked the fire with her recent Mumsnet rant. 

"Parent-child parking spaces at supermarkets should be reserved primarily for those with children aged five and under," she says in her viral post, getting straight to the point. 

She caveats this by saying, "Aside from older children with special needs (although a disability spot might be more appropriate where they meet the criteria, in these cases)."

So, why is she so bothered by this? And why did she... draw a diagram?

Well, she explains a recent incident to highlight her issue.

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The diagram the woman drew. Image: Mumsnet

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"Save them for people who need them most"

"I was alone with my four-month-old today; the trolleys with the baby seats are kept next to these spaces. The spaces that have the easiest access to the trolleys had all been taken, with the last taken by someone just before me," she writes.

"I reversed into a space around the corner and the driver was shaking their head at me, presumedly because their space only had extra room on one side and my space came up to them (see picture)," the mum continues. "I was surprised to then see them get out with a child of about 13. 

"I saw multiple other people using these spaces with children looking like teenagers. I was able to get a space which still had fairly easy access to the trolleys, albeit by needing to walk on the road and in between the other cars. Multiple people had parked in the spaces with the easiest access with much older children. I was lucky to get a space at all, had I not, I would have had to walk across the busy carpark holding my baby."

She then gives readers two options to vote on the matter —"Just because someone has a child under 16 doesn’t mean they should take up these spaces, they should save them for people who need them the most," or "First come first served, who cares if someone with a baby is having to traipse across a busy car park holding a baby to get to the baby trolleys."

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"You'll change your mind"

Naturally, commenters were divided into those two camps she laid out.

"This boils my blood. I caused damage to my shoulder when my toddler was little and I couldn't get a parent and child space so had to park in a normal one and try to get my newborn out of the car seat. The last P&C space was taken by a man with no baby or child with him," one said. "Some people are very selfish."

"I think they should be for people whose child uses a car seat. It has the extra space so you can manoeuvre the door wide enough without hitting another car. I don’t really get why someone with a 10-year-old who can easily open a door safely would need so much extra space," wrote another.

Then this person suggested: "You should get some sort of pass that lasts five years at your last midwife appointment (or a slightly earlier one as normal spaces are tricky when very heavily pregnant too!) that you can display on your windscreen. The amount of a**holes I see that have older kids that I see using them is ridiculous."

However, others said she was overreacting.

"I just think life is too short to get upset about this kind of thing. Keep a sling in your car in case you have to walk across the car park with your baby. How big and busy is this car park, though? You’ve made it sound like crossing the M25 in rush hour!" someone said.

Another added: "People get way too worked up about them. If you need one and one is free use it. Otherwise, park elsewhere."

"Once your baby is five and a half years old (which will be in the blink of an eye, trust me), you'll change your mind," a fellow mum claimed. 

Originally published as 'Parent parking spaces should be for those with kids 5 and under'