Finding the easy parking spot. (Provided photo — Diane Chase)

I was parking the car at the market when my daughter laughingly told me to Princess Park.

To me, that meant she wanted to be dropped off at the entrance while I found parking so she didn’t have to walk any distance in inclement weather. Why should my little princess be uncomfortable? We are a sarcastic family, so please read the appropriate level of sarcasm into the situation.

Well, it turns out I’m not so far off the mark. The difference, apparently, to “princess park” is to choose the open space closest to the entrance. At the very least, I need to find two open spaces facing each other so I can pull the vehicle through and drive out of the space without backing up.

Rockstar is another name for Princess Parking. I fully support being a rockstar or princess while finding an easy spot while running errands, if it can make parking a car fun. It certainly is better than suggesting a game to illegally park in a handicapped zone, leave a car in the drive-through/pick-up space, park in the fire zone, or just aggressively park.

My husband is the one person in the family who doesn’t need to be told to Princess Park. He makes finding a parking spot a competition. He will drive around a parking lot looking for the closest place for so long that I will lose patience and ask to be left at the shop entrance. Now that I type this out, I’m onto his plan. I’ve already done most of the shopping while he slowly weaves around any exiting vehicles for the perfect spot. When the kids were little, I thought we were doing parking lot loops to get the littles to sleep. I see a pattern now.

I usually don’t care where I park my car, which is why my daughter asked me to look for a closer space. I’ll park at the end of a lot and walk a mile rather than get in a battle over a parking space. Shopping is exhausting enough. However, if I put more thought into parking, I would spend a lot less time trying to find my car.

I also wonder if my kid needs more practice backing up a vehicle and being able to maneuver a car into tight spaces. We can’t always avoid what makes us uncomfortable. She assures me she just doesn’t walk a mile in the rain. That is fair. Whether you are Princess or Rockstar Parking, let’s make sure it’s all fun and games.