Thursday, July 5, 2012

Things That Annoy Me Thursday: Neighborhood Kids

Don’t get me wrong, summertime is nice and all. It’s wonderful not to have to wake up early and rush the kids off to school.

But.

Summer also means I have to deal with the neighborhood kids.

I get some knocking on the door at 9 AM. 9 AM! This is not an appropriate time to knock on someone’s door. It seems these children are forgetful because even though I tell them that my kids don’t come out until after lunch, they still show up. Am I not speaking English?

I also get kids who think it’s okay to lean against my car. My car is not a piece of furniture. Did their parents forget to explain that cars are expensive and if their offspring damages said car that THEY are responsible for paying for it? I was outside trying to pull weeds and I watched as this tiny kid came over. Leaned against my car. THEN OPENED THE DOOR! Yes, I keep my car unlocked at times if I know I’m going somewhere later. Still.

“Don’t touch my car!” I shouted. I had had enough and the kid’s parents were just in their yard, ignoring it. If they weren’t going to say anything then I would. And I’m not always nice about it either. If you want your kids to always be spoken to in a delicate matter, don’t let them piss me off.

The kid seemed confused as though no one had ever told him no before. Then he slowly walked back to his house. No apology.

I have kids knocking on my door when it’s getting dark. I don’t let my kids out when it’s dark.

I have kids knocking on my door asking if Natalie can come out by herself. She’s five. I don’t let her out by herself. I see other young kids running around and it makes me nervous. Cars speed around here. Tiny kids don’t always grasp the concept that the street isn’t their playground.

So yes. While I am enjoying summer, I will be excited when school starts and I won’t have to deal with neighborhood kids.

29 comments:

  1. and this is why we live in the middle of nowhere. the cows get annoying sometimes....but at least they don't come knocking on my door (which would actually be kinda cool if they did!).

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  2. hahaha. . . I love that you're the neighborhood "cranky old woman". You'd HATE my neighbors.

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  3. Amen! I couldn't have said it any better myself.

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  4. we have some new kids in the neighborhood who started coming to see if my son could play. I came home from work and found out they were in the canyon. I almost whooped them all.

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  5. OMG, are you my twin?!? I feel EXACTLY the same way! My motto is: "I like spontanaity, as long as it's planned." In other words, no impromptu playdates! call first! I am not a total meanie, if you call even the day before or day of, we can figure something out. But, please, for the love of all things holy, no showing up unannounced.

    And the other thing my neighborhood kids do (ages 4-9) is ride bikes with no helmet!!!!! and go to the pool by themselves!!!!! Are you insane, you parents of kids who you let run free? I know I am a bit of a control freak, but I cannot be friends with parents like that. It gives me a heart attack.

    best,
    MOV

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  6. I so totally can understand how you feel. I get annoyed as one of the girls in the neighborhood screams at the top of her lungs. I have signs out back that say children playing slow. Well there parents don't sit out and watch her. I don't like how she encourages my daughter to do things she knows she isn't suppose to do.

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  7. I hear you!!!! It's so nice to now be in a hotel and have QUIET!!!!!! Love it! I think I could live in a hotel...

    Anyway, hopefully by living in a house, and not "technically" on base housing, we'll be free of the kids roaming around unsupervised, and being all kinds of annoying for the next three years. Well that's the plan anyway.

    Good luck to you! And don't be afraid to speak up!!!

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  8. We moved to our neighborhood about 5 years ago - and I was so excited for my kids to have other kids to play with. Til I met our neighbors. Oh.My.Word. I wish I could re-arrange the houses to put the people we like much closer!

    My girls are of an age where there is much texting and phoning, so rarely does anyone show up unannounced - but I so get what you are talking about!

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  9. You read my mind!!! Sometimes I want to put a zapper on the doorbell just to get some quiet time with the kids at home.

    I love that my kids have friends in the neigborhood, but honestly...the doorbell ringing all day long drives me nuts!!

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  10. LOL I know exactly what you mean. I don't have that problem with my neighborhood kids but I know some of my relatives who do.

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  11. I would have yelled at the kid who opened my car door as well. My kid is only two, but I am already teaching her you do not touch other cars. I had to yell at kids at the pool one day because they were much older kids taking toys from toddlers. The mom was there, but she wasn't doing crap about it so I put a stop to it.

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  12. I used to hate the fact that our neighborhood has mostly older couples and teenagers. Then I spent a day with a friend who lives in a neighborhood with lots of kids. I couldn't handle it!

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  13. Thankfully, I live in a neighborhood with a bunch of old people...there is one family that has like 80 kids & they're always playing out in the road. Makes me nervous, but the Mother puts out this yellow sign in the middle of the road that is letting motorists know that there are kids playing. You wanna know what the yellow sign in the middle of the road makes me want to do? Run over it, and her 80 kids.

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  14. There are NO kids on our street. We're surrounded by seniors!

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  15. My neighborhood was like that when my boys were small. But slowly, people have moved and the neighborhood is now retirement. There is no one for my daughter to "hang out" with except me. I sometimes think a happy medium would be nice.

    Thanks for stopping by my blog!

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  16. I'm seriously thinking of investing in a sign for the door that says something like "Go the eff away!" (okay, maybe a little more politely phrased). Because I have problems with doorbell-ringers too. My kids are too young to be outside by themselves, our yard isn't fenced in, when one of them go out they all want to go out, etc. ... not to mention they are almost always either naked or half-naked and in no condition to go outside anyway.

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  17. I remember those days. And I don't miss them at all! My kids are 13-21 now. We sometimes get late visitors, but not early ones. Teens just don't enjoy 9am either.

    Good luck with the rest of the summer. Try not to injure anyone.

    Stopping by from SITS.

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  18. I sooo feel your pain. My neighbor lets her 5 year old run around like crazy, and he is a climber. I see him standing on their grill regularly, and once while I was talking to her he climbed on top of my brick mailbox.

    But NOTHING he's done beats the day he ran into my unlocked house while his mom and I talked outside.

    Needless to say, I try not to make eye contact anymore! :P

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  19. I soo hear you!! Same here! I also don't do 'screamers' UGH!! If I hear screaming, there'd better be a limb severed or blood gushing like a fire hydrant!!

    It took me about 4 years to train the neighborhood kids to not bang on my door, scream like maniacs in my yard or leave trash in my yard....we moved after year five. Dang. Thankfully most of the kids around here are older so don't show up early, or bang on the door and they don't scream like banshees either. Thank God!

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  20. Some parents, who are supposed to be adults, just don't get that they need to teach their kids stuff.

    They think the rest of the world will do it for them and then get pissed off when another adult tells the kid off.

    Well make up your bloody mind people, either teach your kid manners or shut the hell up when someone else does!

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  21. Parents never cease to amaze me at the lack of involvement they have with their children. I mean really, teach your kids that 9am is too early to be knocking on someone's door, and teach your kids to respect other people's property. Ugh. that aggravates me for you!!!!

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  22. I feel your pain. We had been at the beach all day one day this week. We drove in around dinner time and my neighbor was outside with her infant daughter. I KNOW she saw me take the beach stuff out of the trunk and stumble into the house. Did she stop her older child from coming over to ring the doorbell 60 seconds after we got into the house? NO! Sometimes I just want to be home for ten minutes...NO, my children cannot play, it's dinner time and WE.JUST.GOT.HOME! And if I don't answer the door, he looks in my windows!

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  23. Yes, yes, Yes! Totally agree. Are we the only caring , normal parents around??? I think so. Same thing in my neighborhood. I don't get it. You & I should be neighbors! :)

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  24. Didn't you have obnoxious kids in the last neighborhood you lived in? Maybe your house is that house where all the kids like to hang out! I suggest you talk to the kids parents and tell them that your kids don't come outside till after 12:00. Maybe they'll spread the news to their own kids!

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  25. My neighborhood has alot of kids and it's great for my daughter. Now that she and her friends are a bit older, things are pretty casual. They go out and knock on doors. It's perfectly ok for a parent to say it's not a good time and we respect that and I have had to say it too. Of course, I am a half a block removed from the court where most of the kids live. They are all over each others front and back yards and constantly moving. I'm not sure I'd like that but most of the parents up that way look out for each other's kids. I grew up in the 70s and things were pretty casual and of course, no cell phones. There was also no such thing as a playdate. You just went out and played. But kids should be taught respect.

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  26. Your neighborhood kids don't have shit on our neighborhood kids. :)

    I've already decided that Aubri isn't going to be friends with any of the punks in our neighborhood.

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  27. I really don't like when people let their kids run around without some supervision. Maybe I'm over kill, but it really scares me...

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  28. This is one of the MANY reasons I don't want to live on post! Some people's children, I tell ya!

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  29. I too wish parents would do their job. I didn't ask nor do I want to do it for them.

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