Parking with Children
Hashim's favorite question to ask is, "why do we park in driveways and drive in parkways?" He can be so corny. But I really do struggle with parking garages. When you park they are usually free for like the first 60-90 minutes. That's not bad and that isn't an unreasonable amount of time to do something with free parking. My issue is that the time starts when you pull into the garage.
It takes about 10-20 minutes to drive around looking for a parking spot. So that is time wasted that could be spent enjoying the free parking. Since I have three children it takes us forever to get out of the car. It can take me some days 30 minutes to get all of my children out of the car and into the stroller and the baby carrier. I have so much to do just to get everyone out of the car. I have to answer all of Anaiah's questions. And she wants to do everything by herself. I swear she does it as slow as she possibly can. Then I have to stop and feed Yasir and then change his diaper. Zariah also may need a diaper change. She has also taken her shoes off on the ride so I have to put them back on her. She likes to do everything Anaiah does, even though she hasn’t mastered it. Setting up the stroller and or the baby carrier is a job. Anaiah wants to take her doll. Then I have to grab my bag and lock up the car. Once I complete all of that I have 20 minutes left of free parking.
We have to get out of the garage and actually get to our destination. Once I walk in the door to where I want to go I have already used up my 60-90 minutes. Parking timer should start when you walk into the store or out of the garage. I want to be able to take full advantage of my time. Rather than wasting it inside the garage preparing myself to go somewhere. And you have to make sure you pay for parking before you leave the garage. If you try to pay at the exit you have most likely used up a significant amount of time putting everyone and everything back into the car. I think it takes us about 30 minutes to load up the car. So for the most part I avoid a lot of places that do not have free parking.
To all the parking garage owners allow me be your Mom-in-chief. Here are 3 ways you can improve your garages:
- Let our time start on our way out of the garage.
- Can there be mother with small children parking. Like check and see if there is a car seat in the car.
- Please make sure your elevator is working at all times.
