Childfree Parking Wars

                                                   

I seriously hate the special 'mommy & baby' parking spots. Talk about an idea that came out of a pronatalistic, privileged society!!! You can always find these spots right up front....near the handicapped/disabled parking. That's right....you can feel free to equate parents and pregnant women with disabled people all around the world. Kinda works for me....I think having kids IS a handicap on several levels. Now, I'm not looking for a special spot of my own here, just the elimination of an idea that is so wholly unfair and pronatalistic that it makes my stomach ache. There are no actual laws forbidding non-parents from parking in these spaces, but on occasions there are areas that claim they will tow your car or fine you. Can you imagine having to pay a fine for a parking space at the grocery store???  It's supposed to be a deterrent for taking up the spot where Mom and her tow-headed girls want to be.  After all, they must be as close as possible so they can prance into the toy store and get the next Elsa doll without breaking a sweat. Let it go.....Let it go......

In this day and age, this kind of thinking really does treat parents like mentally disabled adults. Folks of a certain age know full well that we made it this far in life without this ridiculous bit of staging. All of the technological advances which are supposed to have made our lives safer, and we still resort to special parking spots for people who do not need them. There was no expectant mom parking at the local supermarkets when we grew up. Parents took charge of their kids, period. They walked WITH them into the stores and then walked back out with them after they made their purchases. Sometimes that parking spot was close to the store, and other times it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay in the back of the lot. Our parents survived it....WE survived it. Why can't today's modern parent do the same? It's the same problem we've had for a long time....treating having children as an elitist privilege instead of a true responsibility. 

I have heard all manners of arguments from parental units in favor of said special spot. They have more 'stuff' that they need to focus on....like strollers, car seats, kids who undo their own seatbelts and start running away, etc.  These parents NEED these spots to prevent their child from swinging the door open and damaging the car next to them. They NEED these spots to avoid dealing with a wriggly toddler while putting change in a meter. They NEED these spots to prevent them from having to walk through a dangerous parking lot with their child in tow (they don't care if YOU have to, though) They NEED these spots to have the door wide open so they can belt/unbelt their kids properly so the kids don't get out and run out of the car.  What kinds of kids are you raising anyway? And who the hell is in charge if the minute you turn your back your kid is running away from YOU?

My parents didn't have car seats...just two kids who stayed in the car until we were TOLD we could open the door and stand next to the door until they came around to where we were. Because we were TAUGHT limits, rules and we learned to behave and respect those limits at home BEFORE we ventured out. I heard the rules every time I went out with my mom, well after I was already following them. She took her role as a parent seriously and she didn't pass it off to the rest of the world. 

I don't want to hear how much busier parents are, how much more traffic there is, wah, wah, wah... We grew up with less safety devices and we're still here. Funny-you have more safety technology and you still have trouble raising a kid who respects you as an authority figure? The problem is YOU mummy and daddums....not everyone else.... YOU are the problem child that requires special help...but maybe if you had to deal with NORMAL limits like everyone else, you would stop thinking the world owes you extras to help you deal with your children! Like no extra special parking spaces?

I will admit to parking in a 'Mom & Child' spot more than once. Parking lot is full....I'm going in for five minutes...but I can't use any of the EMPTY 6 spots for mothers and their children just in case the day care suddenly closes and they all arrive needing to pick up diapers? Screw that... I refuse to continue to allow society to make me think I'm second class because I don't have children These parking spots aren't the most important issue among us Childfree, but it's a reflection of how society views us. Don't respect me, I won't follow that stupid rule. How many of you have come up against that situation? Middle of the night...run to the store...need two things and you're outta there. Don't park in the 'mommy' spot.....or do you?

 The sense of entitlement in modern society is ridiculous. These same individuals who insist that a woman who is walking around 8 months pregnant needs a special parking space are the same ones who begrudge a disabled person their spot if they can't SEE what is wrong with them. It's only the visible issue that concerns these folks. 'Can't you SEE I'm pregnant? LOOK at my belly! I NEED that spot!'Yeah....and what is the excuse for some of the women who walk, run, do yoga, etc during their whole pregnancy? Physically fit women don't need a spot closer to the grocery store....BUT I bet they still want one all the same!

What do you think about parking spaces for mom's and infants and/or expectant moms? Dare I also raise the issue of fathers being able to use these spots? Even men become second class citizens next to the Cult of Motherhood and its needs. Pronatalism at its finest is also incredibly sexist, because it assumes that pregnant WOMEN need that extra special coddling to continue to want to have children. Make it easier for them at every stage and they will continue to have babies as long as they can. 

No special treatment for the Childfree by Choice. Go to the back of the lot and walk!