The older people obviously needed to be nearer the door or they would have parked somewhere else. For God sake, at least the OP has a car to go to the shops with. In the eighties I had three children under three and a half - with no car - and had to walk to the shop, around the shop and home from the shop with a double buggy (laden with bags) and a three and a half year old walking beside me. A bit of exercise is no harm for a young mother and child.
I see alot of women w/o children parking in them as well.
I object to mother and child spaces as I am not allowed to use them when I bring my children to the shops.
Maybe it's because it's mothers with children who actually need wider spaces. Perhaps they should use the more politically correct "SUV and children".
No, the parent with the children needs the spot. When I bring my children to do the shopping it seems I'm excluded since I'm their father.
But it's not just older folk that abuse these spaces - see http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=67790715&postcount=1498
I would use them all the time. They are unenforceable bits of paint.