Not many things get on my nerves. OK, I'm not saying I am perfect by a long chalk and yes many things can irritate me in everyday life. Especially when I am in a shitty mood but most things that bug me  - a bad driver, a rude member of public or a mother who can't control her nasty child who is hitting my child  because her phone call is much more important (yes, this happened at the weekend and it's still raw) - most things annoy me and then I forget them and move on.

There is one thing that bugs me and stays with me and that is the MINEFIELD that is Parent and Child Parking Spaces.

YEP.

Wherever you go, most places don't have enough of them and most of the time I can't even park close enough to see one let alone get my car in one. I feel as though parent parking spaces are actually allocated for members of a secret mum club that get given a pass and notifications of when the spaces become free.

My biggest bugbear isn't that other families use them though, of course it isn't, they have just as much right to be using the space as I do and got there first fair and square. My biggest bugbear is when people without children use them.

IT'S IGNORANT.

Why does it anger me so? Not because they are parked near the shop no, I don't mind being parked far away from the shop in fact I make a point of doing it so that I walk a little more, my bugbear is because the parent spaces are made with room either side to allow you to easily get your child out of their car seat without the risk of scratching someone elses car. You, the ignorant person who have parked there childless (and with no sign of having children) are just parking there because you don't want to walk further than you have to.

I have watched someone get out of the car, clock me looking at them and their child free existence, look nervously down at their feet and then scuttle off while I am opening the window scathing. I know a friend who watched someone pretend to have a child in their car for about ten minutes when they clocked her and someone else watching. Is it really worth the hassle and the stares? I wouldn't mind if these people had a 'no fucks given' kinda attitude about it all but they clearly don't if they are pretending to tend to their non existent children and rushing off before I can wind my window down and say something.

I never ever parked in those spaces before I had a child. Even when I was heavily pregnant and could have done with the extra room to get out, I never thought of parking in a parent and child space. They were there to help others. Sometimes it is almost impossible to squeeze your child out of the car in normal sized spaces without scraping some of their skin off having only just been able to open the door to about 40 degrees.

I would happily welcome the idea of parent parking spaces being further away from the shop to put other people who don't need them off of using them. I am happy to walk a bit further to get to where I need to be. That is never an issue for me. My issue is people having no regard for others.

There we go rant over. I will get back to my happy place.

What do you think? Do you agree?