A trip to the local shopping centre when you have small children, is no easy feat, even with the illusion of a parents with prams spot available upon entry. There is much to contend with, and many things to contribute to the level of anxiety that many parents face when they decide to take the plunge.

It’s a marathon decision, which begins at home.

Gone are the days before children, when if one decided to go out, they simply had a shower, put some clothes on (white even!), chose their destination, and skipped merrily out of the house with smiles on their faces and perfectly groomed hair.

Once you have children, each and every experience is different from the last. Very, very different.

Firstly, there’s the hurdle of actually leaving the house. Making sure everyone is clean and happy and that all bags are packed full to the brim in anticipation of the worst. Nappies, wipes, bibs, snacks, extra snacks just in case they drop the first snacks on the floor, drink bottles, dummies, stimulating toys, teething rusks, change of clothes, and extra jackets to combat the chill in the frozen food section at Woolies.

You’ll be ready to leave and just as you think you’re home free, something fills your nostrils with the essence of dread. You’ll have to change that nappy again, and judging from the smile on your baby’s face, probably their outfit as well.

Then once you’ve stopped wrangling the ever so wriggly baby back into the car, you’ll have to change tactics after they give you their best impression of a plank of wood. Although not before you need to retrace your steps in order to look for the shoe they must have kicked off somewhere in the driveway. You try to coax their little bodies into a folded position just enough to get those trusted seat belts on, and in place. You try bribery, you try tickling, you try not to let the frustration out with an almighty curse word that all the neighbours will hear.

As you approach your destination, you pray for an easy park to make this journey a little less hellish. You pray that there is a “Parents with Prams” parking spot available. Although as you navigate your way through the endless metal of the cars parked before you, mocking your inability to get there earlier, you find that the only spots open are the ones at the opposite side of the entry. All because some inconsiderate members of society have decided that the Parents with Prams spots are a free for all.

Parents with Prams parking spots were invented with the intention that parents who had small children and prams to wrangle through a congested parking lot, were able to make use of the convenience in a safe and timely manner. These spots are wider, to ensure the protection of other vehicles from scratch marks caused by the loading and unloading of prams and strollers.

They were not made for rude Generation Y P-platers to park their Suzuki Swifts in, and leave their big mac wrappers on the floor next to their vehicles. They were not made for healthy people in their mid fifties who have well and truly forgotten the difficulties faced when in charge of small children. They were not made for bitter folk who resent the fact that parents these days “have it easy”. They were not made for the righteous, who have no social conscience and don’t follow the general rule that it takes a village to raise a child.

I understand that it’s not YOUR problem that I have children. I get that. Yes it was my decision. Touche.

I understand that YOU have every right to a parking spot just as much as I do.

Although let me put it to you this way.

I didn’t have children for the high fives and the awesome parking spots, let me tell you. I also didn’t have them to inconvenience you. I’m no mastermind. It’s not part of a grand scheme of mine to have babies solely for the purpose of proximity to Kmart.

I don’t want to be here at this shopping centre, just as much as you don’t want me here. Having to contend with people like you, who have no social conscience and purposely park in a spot which has been reserved for those with a specific need isn’t on the top of my bucket list.

Have you ever had to navigate your way through a parking lot with small children? They tend to play chicken with oncoming traffic. They are like tiny thrill seekers who’s only purpose is to ensure their parents have a heart attack. That’s when traffic is slow. It’s not taking into consideration all the people who don’t follow the general rule of parking lots and drive against the arrows. This places our family in 360 degrees of danger.

Just because you don’t feel we should have these benefits for whatever reason you do, doesn’t make you right.

Do you have anything against seniors parking? What about those people with the pesky wheelchairs? How dare they have their own spot as well, right?

These parking spots were designed with a specific purpose in mind, in order to make life easier for the people who need to make use of them. It’s up to society to withhold a certain standard of ethics which ensures that people in need, actually have them met.

Many people feel that the parents with prams spot is a privilege and a courtesy, not a right.

I feel that the courtesy lies in amongst the wider community as a whole.

What’s your stance on the Parents with Prams debate?