I am 34 weeks pregnant and the mother of one under two. I am exhausted, my hips hurt and feel as though I am wider than a bus. Getting my toddler (replace with slippery fish out of water) in and out of the car at the best of times is hard, but it's even more difficult when this belly is in the way. It requires me to open my doors as wide as possible, else I (we) just don't fit.
I am grateful that you provide 'parent and child' spaces for parents like me, they make getting my slippery fish in and out far easier, without risking damage to my car, or anyone else's. However, I am begging you to relocate your spaces away from the very front of your store. Please let me explain.
Today I made two visits to your store and while strapping in/un strapping the slippery fish, I saw three cars pull up in these spaces who had no baby or toddler with them. In fact when I looked in their cars, there was no evidence to suggest that they even had a young child.
I confronted one man, who claimed that having had two hip replacements, he was entitled to park there. His wife looked at me like I was dirt while making sarcastic, patronising noises at me.
Another man had gone by the time I was able to say anything. I left a note on his windscreen.
The ironic thing being that there were empty spaces in the disabled bays... And can you imagine the uproar if I had parked in a disabled space? After all, pregnancy and motherhood are not disabilities. We just don't fancy denting our neighbours' cars while we go about our weekly shop with our kids. I have no care for the space closest to the door. I will happily walk across the car park in the rain. I just want a wide space and I don't want to lose out to those who aren't entitled to use them.
While your spaces remain so close to the door they'll continue to be abused by the childless, the lazy, the people who don't seem to understand their purpose. Move them away and our struggling double hip-replaced colleagues won't fancy the walk. You won't enforce the rules, you don't have parking attendants. So please do something to help us parents out.
I'd love to know your thoughts on my idea and would be thrilled to discuss this with you further. You can email me at thursdayschild.fridaysthoughts @ gmail.com.
Yours,
Thursday's Child
