Thoughts on Parking Lots

Seems the prevailing attitude is that the closer the spot is to the door, the better. As a domestic engineer with 1-3 little ones in tow, I find that the smarter way is to find a spot next to a cart corral.

I ALWAYS need a cart. Even if I'm only going in for a few things, I need the cart for the baby carrier, and it helps to corral the toddler. And when I've got a whole load of things, watch out. I also once read that the best way to load the car is to put the most precious cargo in first, so I always put the kids in the car, and then load the groceries into the trunk.

This means that I leave the kids in the car when I put away the cart. I have a slight paranoid tendency, born of too much tv, that makes me afraid to let the kids out of my sight for even the few moments it takes to return a cart to a corral. Don't want any serial kidnappers here in this quiet little farm town to hijack my car and sell my kids. So I park next to the cart corrals, because I don't have far to go to put the cart away. And if the weather's nice and I catch a break, there just might be one of those monster carts that look like cars for the kids right there when I pull in.