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It's illegal in my state too. Some people just don't care and that definitely applies to mommy and daddies who are texting, answering emails, adjusting ties or applying makeup in the care while driving with children, only to then pull into a "parents with children" spot. Oooh, now I get it, you care about your child's safety when it's convenient for you.
I told my DH to pull over a while back. He was fiddling with his music player. I told him to pull over and let us out. he has not repeated that.
Give me a break. If you wanted to keep on top of your kids, you could. If you suck, it is your own damned fault.
That is a very narrow view.
My mother is a very spry grandmother, she does not need nor would ever get a handicap sticker but when she was babysitting my daughter and little sister (not her child) when they were toddler she would certainly use the toddler parking. She just knew it was safer for everyone involved, including the other people in the parking lot, if she had the shortest distance to wrangle two 3yos into wherever they were going. She certainly didn't "suck" at anything.
Ugh, they don't walk but it's in general walking distance. Two miles or less. Idk how many people in assisted living/therapy centers are walking a mile to the grocery store and back with groceries in hand.
When my kids were little, I didn't care how close we were to the entry/exit doors, but I parked as close as I could to the place where you return the carts. When you're getting out of the car, it helps because you can walk two steps, grab a cart, then unload your kids from the car and put them into the cart (or in the sling or however you choose to transport your kids while shopping). After shopping, you pile the kids back into the car directly from the cart (or sling or whatever), unload the shopping cart, and then it's two steps to return the cart to the cart return area. Your kids never leave your sight and are never more than two or so steps away. They are also always "contained" - either in the sling, the cart, or the car - so there's no chance of them running wild and crazy on you and risking getting hurt.
I think it's a parents responsibility - not the store's or other driver's - to make sure their kids are not running around parking lots or getting hit by cars backing up, etc. That's irresponsible parenting. It's your job to keep your kids safe and if you have a rambunctious one (and I've known a few! ) who won't listen or is tricky to handle and keep in check, then a good parent will make wiser choices as far as whether or not to bring them along for the shopping, etc.
And I can say this because I am a parent. (I can't stand it when people who aren't parents form opinions on what is good or not-so-good parenting. You don't have a clue until you actually are one.)
I was a cashier for many years at a natural foods grocer, and there were quite a few parents that would come shopping with their wild kiddo's in tow. It was as if they expected the employees in the store to discipline their kids. One time, a mother asked me to tell her kid no, when he kept asking for candy. I told her, "Well, he's not my son, so I don't feel comfortable with that." Those "families with children" spaces are in response to that sort of irresponsible parenting, not that all parents who use them are irresponsible - that's not what I mean. They were made in response to the lack of proper parental supervision.
When my kids were little, I didn't care how close we were to the entry/exit doors, but I parked as close as I could to the place where you return the carts. When you're getting out of the car, it helps because you can walk two steps, grab a cart, then unload your kids from the car and put them into the cart (or in the sling or however you choose to transport your kids while shopping). After shopping, you pile the kids back into the car directly from the cart (or sling or whatever), unload the shopping cart, and then it's two steps to return the cart to the cart return area. Your kids never leave your sight and are never more than two or so steps away. They are also always "contained" - either in the sling, the cart, or the car - so there's no chance of them running wild and crazy on you and risking getting hurt.
I think it's a parents responsibility - not the store's or other driver's - to make sure their kids are not running around parking lots or getting hit by cars backing up, etc. That's irresponsible parenting. It's your job to keep your kids safe and if you have a rambunctious one (and I've known a few! ) who won't listen or is tricky to handle and keep in check, then a good parent will make wiser choices as far as whether or not to bring them along for the shopping, etc.
And I can say this because I am a parent. (I can't stand it when people who aren't parents form opinions on what is good or not-so-good parenting. You don't have a clue until you actually are one.)
I was a cashier for many years at a natural foods grocer, and there were quite a few parents that would come shopping with their wild kiddo's in tow. It was as if they expected the employees in the store to discipline their kids. One time, a mother asked me to tell her kid no, when he kept asking for candy. I told her, "Well, he's not my son, so I don't feel comfortable with that." Those "families with children" spaces are in response to that sort of irresponsible parenting, not that all parents who use them are irresponsible - that's not what I mean. They were made in response to the lack of proper parental supervision.
I think you missed the post that stated people *assume* a parking lot accident is always the kid's fault when it's not. It's sometimes the fault of an inattentive driver.
As a childless person, I don't really care, since I always park on the far end of the parking lot and walk for the extra exercise anyway. I don't understand (young, healthy) people who drive up and down the aisles looking for a close space for 10 minutes, while I've already parked at the far end and walked into the building, they are still circling, but then they can go into the mall and walk around shopping for 3 hours. Is walking through the parking lot that much different than walking inside the mall (at least on nice days)?
But it seems to me that having these parent spaces near the front door wouldn't be any safer. The most dangerous time for kids in a parking lot seems to me to be when the parent is distracted by loading/unloading kids/groceries/packages from the vehicle. Following that time would be when you actually cross from the parking lot over to the sidewalk. Having both of those times take place near the front door, where the traffic is the highest, doesn't seem safer to me.
If it was really all about safety, I'd make the parent's spaces wider, but put them off to one end or the other of the parking lot, away from the front door, but near a sidewalk, so that they are away from the heaviest traffic, but still don't have to walk through the parking lot to get to the entrance, they just cross over in an area with far less traffic and walk on the sidewalk.
I'd bet that most parents would look for a narrow space closer to the door rather than the wide, reserved, parents space that had them having to walk a hundred feet farther on the sidewalk.
And I can say this because I am a parent. (I can't stand it when people who aren't parents form opinions on what is good or not-so-good parenting. You don't have a clue until you actually are one.)
I was a cashier for many years at a natural foods grocer, and there were quite a few parents that would come shopping with their wild kiddo's in tow. It was as if they expected the employees in the store to discipline their kids. One time, a mother asked me to tell her kid no, when he kept asking for candy. I told her, "Well, he's not my son, so I don't feel comfortable with that." Those "families with children" spaces are in response to that sort of irresponsible parenting, not that all parents who use them are irresponsible - that's not what I mean. They were made in response to the lack of proper parental supervision.
I used to work at Barnes and Noble, and I can't even tell you how many parents left small children in the children's department and LEFT the store to do other shopping. Small children meaning under the age of 5. They treated us as a babysitter.
I don't have to be a parent to judge that bad parenting. Neither do the police, who we had to call about once a month when the child was small enough that they couldn't even tell us their parents names.
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