A heavy heart

[Louise]

I am at work today and decided to go for a trundle down to Ikea at lunchtime As you do

 

It was sooooooo slow getting into the car park not because there was no space but because there were all these morons determined to park next to the door driving round and round slowly blocking the entrance

 

What is wrong exactly with their legs they can't all be mobility impaired and if they were why not use the disabled parking area

 

Then inside there were all these small people with their own trolleys getting in the way and bashing into people Why don't they get kept under control I was at one point muttering under my breath 'leave the little monsters at home or better still tie them up outside'

 

I know I have just upset every parent on here but there were so many of them

 

Then back outside it jhad started to drizzle a little so one dad came out with a young boy about 5 years old and said to him its raining you wait here with this while I go and get the car There was no one to look after him he was just left on his own

[Couperman]

It makes it worse if you are on your lunch doesn't it.

I never quite understood why B&Q have so many disabled parking spots, how many disbled poeple actually DIY?

 

As for people with kids give them a bit of a break it can't be easy going to Ikea and having to control the little cherubs too.

 

Why do people take their children to superstores to tell them off? I find it both amusing and impressive when someone lets rip on an naughty kid without caring what people think, good on them.

 

I may not find so funny when I have to do it!.

[theherd123]

Louise i think you need a brew with a dash of something stiff in it!

[Egluntyne]

There was no one to look after him he was just left on his own

 

I'm choosing my words very carefully here....but I'm still reeling from the news that Madeleine McCann, the little girl abducted in Portugal, was left unattended whilst her parents were at a nearby Tapas Bar. Whilst I'm sure they bitterly regret their actions now.....what on earth made them think it was acceptable to leave three children under the age of 4 unattended at night in a foreign country. Popping back every half hour is not good enough, as has been clearly demonstrated. They are both doctors for god's sake so one would have expected them to have made a more intelligent decision than this.

 

Whilst I am deeply sorry for them and sincerely hope that their little girl is returned to them....I can't help feeling that perhaps they should face prosecution for abandoning their children. You might say that they have been punished enough, but I heard on the radio that under Portugese Law it is likely that they will be charged..

[Louise]

I think that is why I was so gobsmaked egluntine

 

The place was heaving with families and the exit is right next to the cafe bit with loads of people milling around

 

I think that the little girls family will get a visit from social services when they get home

[red]

I agree with you Louise - they should have designated "children's hours" at some of these big shops

 

Same applies to old people and M&S - why, when they have all day every day to do their shopping, do they chose a weekday lunchtime when all us busy working men and women want to pop in and out during our only spare hour and have to wait behind them queuing with their small loaf of bread and two custard tarts in a shopping trolley

 

Sorry if you're either (a) a parent or (b) an old lunchtime M&S shopper ... I know - it will be me one day!!

 

[harveypup]

While we are on the subject;

 

Why do old people insist on catching the bus at the same time as people like me who are trying to get to work AND even though they catch it every bloomin day and therefore surely know how much it is going to be, they never have their money ready

[xraylady]

It makes it worse if you are on your lunch doesn't it.

I never quite understood why B&Q have so many disabled parking spots, how many disbled poeple actually DIY?

 

quite a few of us, actually - especially if we keep chickens

[bronze]

Its not so much Disbaled people DIYing. Its the fact that all the other spaces could be taken and all the disbaled spaces could be free. You could sit there for ages waiting for a space to free up and somebody with a blue badge could just drive in and park straight away. Thats I don't see as fair.

 

As for children in big shops. We try to go when we are at least one child down (playgroup etc) so we are one on one with kids. I hate shopping with them I can't imagine how it is for child free people.

[red]

Whilst we're having a general rant I'd like to have a general moan about why all the mother and baby spaces have to be right next to the supermarket - I can see the need for wide spaces but why can't they have some of them further away?? - in some of our local supermarkets the mother and baby spaces are actually closer than the disabled spaces I can see that if you have a very small baby and it's raining it may be nice to be close but children do have legs don't they???

 

My mother used to have to walk into the village with two small children and no car when I was a child to do all our shopping - it's no wonder we are becoming a nation of fatties when small children can't even walk the length of a supermarket car park!

 

My main gripe about this is that there are lots of people who are elderly or infirm but don't quite qualify for a disabled badge and who would like to park a bit closer - likewise who would like a nice wide space for the same reason - I don't see why mother and babies get such preferential treatment??

 

There - got it out my system

[Mel (& Paul)]

I think (but dont quote me on it) that Madeline's parents were using a baby sitting service - but to be honest the press make such a bad job of reporting that I dont believe anything they say anymore.

 

Can I just add to the list:

 

caravan drivers - yes, you have as much right to be on the road as I do. But please dont drive in rush hour and, unless you are going to do the speed limit can you ensure that you pull into laybys on a regular basis so that those of us who have somewhere to go to and have seen fields and sheep before can get past.

 

Also, can we not just ban children and old people. It would make the world a nicer place

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(PLEASE NOTE I AM JOKING!!!!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

well, about the old people anyway............................

[chocchick]

Whilst we're having a general rant I'd like to have a general moan about why all the mother and baby spaces have to be right next to the supermarket - I can see the need for wide spaces but why can't they have some of them further away??

In our morrisons they aren't the closest, they are halfway down the carpark and we nearly parked in one

 

Why not just stay at home, there are too many cars and people at the shops. It is quiet and peaceful and you can watch your chickens at home

 

I love the idea of special family days at shops although I went to B&Q in the day recently when I thought it would be quiet, and spent 10 mins waiting to get out of the car park.

[Egluntyne]

why oh why......do people bring stuff to the recycling centre at the supermarket I sometimes use and then get back into their cars and drive 150 yards to a car parking space as near to the door as they can get....sometimes circling round several times until they can get one practically inside the store....it amuses me and seems to make a mockery of their recycling motives...I mean the carbon footprint of the recycling trip must be in negative balance by a long shot.

[Louise]

So emmmmmm its not just me then

 

From what I have seen Mel Madelines parents were not using the service but there was one available in the hotel

[Mel (& Paul)]

Nope Louise

 

 

Its not you

 

 

Its them

[Louise]

I thought as much

 

And then theres the voices ......................... they tell me things you know

[BeckyBoo]

Well, I've got three children, eldest is 6, and I HATE going to the supermarket - thank goodness for Tescos on-line shopping is all I can say! I do sometimes have to venture in with one or sometimes two of them but I think I hate it as much as my kids and as much as everyone else who has to listen to me yelling regularly, "Georgia come here, Lauren stop that, Harrison put that down, no you can't have that, because I say so etc etc etc!!"

As for poor little Maddy in Portugal, I can hardly bear to read it, that poor little girl, I can't begin to imagine what her parents are going through, I think I'd want to die if something like that happened to mine. And I also can't believe they left them unattended - the story I read said they decided NOT to use the babysitting service. But for goodness sakes, there were 8 children and 9 adults in their party, you would have thought they would have taken turns to be nominated babysitter. I'm over cautious I know (police officer for 15 years) but I don't leave mine with anyone other than family, restricts my social life, but then I chose to have kids that's part of the deal.

 

And I wanna know if Jamie or Sadie get their cubes before anyone else!! I think they'd have gone for purple, as it's obviously such a good colour!

[Mel (& Paul)]

I thought as much

 

And then theres the voices ......................... they tell me things you know

 

like the lottery numbers

[Egluntyne]

:

As for poor little Maddy in Portugal, I can hardly bear to read it, that poor little girl, I can't begin to imagine what her parents are going through, I think I'd want to die if something like that happened to mine. And I also can't believe they left them unattended - the story I read said they decided NOT to use the babysitting service. But for goodness sakes, there were 8 children and 9 adults in their party, you would have thought they would have taken turns to be nominated babysitter. I'm over cautious I know (police officer for 15 years) but I don't leave mine with anyone other than family, restricts my social life, but then I chose to have kids that's part of the deal.

I agree with every word Mrs Bertie. Having children stops your social gallop somewhat - its part of the deal........

 

We NEVER left our 3 with anyone but family either....and on family holidays we took turns to be the couple to stay in to babysit.

 

To be honest I'd be unsure about a babysitting service too as you would be at the mercy of strangers, but to leave them unattended was a recipe for disaster. I would have been more concerned about a fire or a distressed child waking up to find themselves alone and panicking.

 

I do wish them well and hope their ordeal ends quickly and happily.

[red]

Well I found my earlier rant very cathartic so I'm back to have a rant about something else that bugs me: -

 

We have a lift at work (which I have to use because I have a big trolley bag with all my case papers in ) - anyway, when it stops at the ground floor where I get out there is usually a group of people waiting to get in and very often people leap in before I have a chance to get out! VERY ANNOYING!

 

There that's better

[Snowy]

I agree with everything that has been said above about children and shopping - thank goodness for online shopping definitely! When I go to Ikea I rush straight to the market hall and grab a huge trolley then sit them both in there feeding their faces with crisps and grapes all the way round (as quickly as possible) .

 

My rant is about lifts. When we go into the city centre we park near the top floor of the carpark (I refuse to faff about near the bottom looking for a space ) so then need the lifts to get down again (visualise mother with toddler and baby in pushchair). How many times do I have to watch the lift pass me by because it's full of people who are capable of walking 100yards further down to the plentiful escalators? I get so cross that now when the lift stops and the doors open to reveal it full of people who refuse to get out and let me in, I have perfected the sarcastic comments "yes children I know this is the 10th time that the lift has been past, but we will just have to be patient won't we?" Accompanied by glare at lift occupants.

 

I did once try going up the escalators with buggy and toddler in tow, but the poor toddler decided he was too nervous and stepped back, leaving me riding up the escalator with the buggy and leaving him alone at the bottom! Talk about panic! Luckily a very kind elderly lady spotted my predicament and grabbed toddlers hand and held on tight to him all the way up to me. I'm surprised she didn't give me a mouthful , she was lovely. Needless to say I haven't tried that one again!

[Jaime]

LUXURY....

 

You lot ranting on about consumerism... driving to Tesco, M&S, B&Q and Ikea in your 4x4s polluting the environment, putting little local traders out of business.

 

Your lucky you can all afford such luxuries... and the cost of Eglus and Cubes!

 

In the olden days we were so poor we had to stich mice together to make a blanket. My mother gave birth to twins on the wash house floor and still got up and did the mangling

[theherd123]

[red]

LUXURY....

 

You lot ranting on about consumerism... driving to Tesco, M&S, B&Q and Ikea in your 4x4s polluting the environment, putting little local traders out of business.

 

Your lucky you can all afford such luxuries... and the cost of Eglus and Cubes!

 

In the olden days we were so poor we had to stich mice together to make a blanket. My mother gave birth to twins on the wash house floor and still got up and did the mangling

Laugh ... I split my sides I did!

[Egluntyne]

In the olden days we were so poor we had to stich mice together to make a blanket. My mother gave birth to twins on the wash house floor and still got up and did the mangling

Things don't change in Stockport! ....I lived there for a while as a child!