The neighborhood kids are driving me nuts !!!! Seriously I am sometimes almost to the point of tears, I am so frusterated. We moved to this house because of all the kids, I "thought" it would be great :roll: I don't know why my house it the official playground. They knock on the door all day long, as soon as I get rid of one kid, another one rings the door. I honestly didn't mind it at first, but it has gotten ridiculous. One little girl would come over at 10:00 in the morning and stay till 9:00 when I finally told her to go home. All this time I am cooking for her, cleaning up after her day after day. Her parents are from another country and speak very little English, so talking to them is pointless. Then there are two other kids who are 4 + 6 years old that are allowed to run around the neighborhood all day long without any supervision :shock: They have zero manners, and don't hesitate to play in our yard when I tell them the girls can't play today. Goodbye :x They continue to ring the doorbell and ask if I have changed my mind, all while the little boy is playing with his private parts :shock: I am not even sure their parents are home or awake, I have never seen them outside with the kids. So talking to them is probably pointless as well. Sorry if I offend anyone, but seriously who lets their 4 y/o little girl ride her bike (w/o a helmet) all over the neighborhood with only her 6 y/o brother watching her for hours. Thank you to everyone who has read through my rant. It has been one of those days. My yard is full of toys and junk that all the kids drug out of my garage. Did any of their "friends" bother to help my kids clean it up....NO
For the 4 and 6 year old not being watched-I'd call DFACS (or CPS-whatever your state calls it) For the girl that stays all day-make her clean her own mess! I make my 7 year old neighbor help clean here LOL She even sweeps and mos the whole kitchen sometimes! (She asks to do that-I don't make her LOL) But I totally understand-I have an adult neighbor like that-yay for me, he's currently in jail
Call the police. English-speaking or not, they'll notice something like that. I wouldn't put up with it AT ALL!
We had a similar problem with kids here. We had a swing in the front yard for my kids and it attacted kids from blocks around! No kidding-they would knock on the door and ask for water & snacks, leave trash on the grass, etc. One little girl would roam the neighborhood too, and ring our bell 8-10 times a day. Finally I just took the swing down, told the little girl, sorry you have to find someone else to play with, and its calmed down. I think maybe you should put an end to the kids playing. It's not right for you to have to babysit these kids all day. I do agree, though, that kids that little should not be roaming around all day. You can probably call CPS without giving your name and ask them what they think. Talking to the parents yourself is probably pointless, as you said. Maybe they just need to have someone tell them in their language that they need to keep track of the kids better, that its not safe here to do that. I don't know, it seems obvious to us but maybe in their country they handle things differently and they just need to be told?
I would call CPS, too. That can't be safe, I know it's not where I live. As far as talking to the parents, maybe if you just went and told them, "I need you to come help clean up the mess your children made, because they will not and I won't, and it can't stay a mess." Maybe that would be enough.
I wouldn't be afraid to call CPS. Really, think about it, God forbit something happened to those children. The police would be knocking at your door because they are always there. CPS usually isn't going to take them away unless there is major problem. At least here they do everything possible to keep the kids with their mom. But, they will hold them accountable. It is a real safety issue. On the other hand, I live in a neighborhood that everyone keeps to themseleves. I would love to have kids knocking on my door. They only come when it's really hot because we have a pool. ugh.... But, anyway, I have seen one neighbor sue another neighbor because their dog went on their lawn. Pure craziness. That said, I believe that you should cover yourself. I have zero tolerance when someone put's my family at risk. For example, I have 2 rules at my pool during kids swim time. 1. no jumping in the shallow end 2. No diving in the shallow end. I have put in the jumping because they say they forget when they get playing hard. But, I had one little boy look right into my eyes then dove in shallow end. I got up and said, You are out of the pool. He sat in the chair for about 5 minutes and said, "Can I go back in?" My response was, "Absolutely not. You looked at me and did it anyway, I only have 2 rules and you disobeyed. You are done for the day." He was so mad at me. I may sound mean but really he was at the time 8 years old. I keep the rules simple for a reason. Could you imagine the liability if he got hurt! No one can fault you for keeping your family safe. That includes putting you in a position to answer questions if something went wrong. That is just my opinion. I hope it helps.
Call CPS. I would do it. I ended up having to call the police for our neighborhood kids. Like you, when I moved here they said, "Lots of kids" and I thought, "YAY! Playmates for my two!" No. No way. They run wild like dogs through the neighborhood on their bikes destroying things. One night they kicked the license plate on my MIL's car and broke the cover. When we ran outside they scattered to the four corners. They have broken into our garage to steal our son's Little Tikes Pick up truck (which they screwed up and knocked over a bunch of stuff and dh and I ran up stairs to find the truck in the driveway, and them running in different directions down the street. There have been so many other things as well. You can never assign them to a house b/c you never see a parent or them at the same house twice! The deal sealer was when a stray dog ran onto our porch b/c they were chasing it w/ rocks, throwing them at it and screaming (these aren't just boys, lots of girls too) So I came up behind them (they were actually on our elevated deck ON OUR PROPERTY doing this) and I lost my cool b/c cruelty to animals is something I WILL NOT stand for. I told them that I was calling the police, to which 3 of them sprang from the porch railing to run off, and I didn't mind the next time they came onto my property for any reason I would knock on every single door in the neighborhood to find their parents. The police said they took care of it, and thye took the dog in, but I was absolutally livid. None of them have come onto our property since, however they do scream at our house, stuff our mailbox w/ fireworks, and flip us off as we go by. I don't mind. It makes me sad though, that parents let their children act like this. Call CPS, and let the little girl know that if she wants to stay all day then she has things that she needs to do, like clean up after herself, and so on. You know she's probably just starved for attention, maybe.
Call CPS.....We have a neighbor whos 18 month old little girl keept running across the street. We both live on the corner of a decently busy street and people fly around that corner all the time. I don't know how many times we've carried her back over to her house. Last time,Hubby carried her back and knocked and knocked on the door with no answer. He walked around the back and they were all sitting back there drinking and didn't even know the baby was gone!!!! He told them that they needed to watch her. And I can't even count the times that those kids have been locked out. A few years ago their then 8 year old was over ALL DAY LONG. Finally, at 10pm, hubby told him to go home. The kids watched him go across the street and he couldn't get in. So again hubby went knocking on the door. Nobody ever answered. So we called the police. They came and banged and banged on the door. FINALLY the guy answered. He had been asleep!! He said he thought the little boy was in his bedroom. HELLO, He was at our house ALL DAY!! What's wrong with people???? Anyhow, CPS was called and since then the kids haven't been locked out or "forgotten". The little one, She still comes across the street from time to time, but it's been month or so since it's happened and used to be nearly a daily occurance. I think CPS was called on over that by other neighbors because they watch her a LOT better now.
We unhooked the doorbell & banned all the kids around here. DS is no longer allowed friends that live within walking distance =) I do not believe you should call CPS or anyone else, except the parents, unless the kids are in danger or being abused.
"In Danger" is sort of a fine line though. I think another poster was kinda right when they said that if something DID happen then they could be heavily questioned since the child was always at her house. But really, she sounds like the stand in parent to me, but thats JMO. Her own parents need to step up, I think.
I agree with you....but when anyone is at your house (no matter the length of time) isn't that the only time you are "responsible" for them? If my sons friend gets hit by a car on his way home...is that my fault? I think if you don't want to be involved in the situation, remove that child from the equation.
We live in a cul-de-sac with only one other family with young kids. The boy is 9 and has already been suspended from school twice and kicked off the bus several times. The girl was also suspended once and spends most of her time hanging out with (questionable) 15 year old girls. Fortunately, I've kept my son very busy this summer and he's only played with the boy once. With homeschooling, my son won't have to be alone at the bus stop with these two either. The the OP, you need to set the rules and enforce them NOW or it will only get worse.
Oh boy sounds like every neighborhood with kids has a group of unwatched, unsocialized youngsters. My DD was friends with another girl in PS and now she is homeschooling I thought it would be great that they come over and play since she is just around the corner. Well she is four and only is aloud out with her older 7 year old brother. And my son doesn't seem to get along with the grabbing nature of this other fellow. I made the mistake of being a good hostess to seemingly well behaved kids. Now they have gotten used to being here over the summer, they stay for all hours, mess everything up completely, break toys, grab toys, ask for food constantly like one thing after the other, and don't leave until asked. And when it's close to dinner and I suggest they head home they are like oh man I am really hungry what are you making. Linger, linger with these hungry little faces. Now I feel for kids who aren't fed or watched properly but I can't afford to feed the hoards in the neighborhood. If I could I would have had many more kids of my own I love kids. I feel bad talking bad about them. But really it's the parents who should be watching little kids. Our city is known for pedophiles, my husband even stopped a kidnapping once. I think it's a disgrace that parents let the best part of their lives run around with no supervision. It's a crime waiting to happen. I let my kids out as far a my driveway with me close by. I have a hedge and even caught a man driving in a van 'looking for his dogs once' he seemed strange to me. When I showed up from the backyard, which incedentialy is next to the drive, he seemed surprised and flustered. I have no desire to be mean spirited to little kids but I do think it's a sad fact of a lot of parents that they are ill prepared to take on the task of parenting with their whole hearts and they just want their kids out of their hair. As to the little boy constantly picking at his nether regions. Perhaps no one has taken the time to point out to him that it is inappropriate and a private thing to do. I don't think it would be horribly impolite to point it out to him nicely like 'now ____ I know you may be uncomfortable but it isn't polite to adjust oneself in public. You can use the bathroom if you would like to rearrange things.' And yes it can feel like we are running daycares when kids are over for hours. But a small child staying until 9 seems more then extreme. I would ask her for her phone number and call the parents to come and collect their child at an earlier hour. And if she doesn't know her phone number go to their home and ask for it. Further if she can't speak English why is she playing at your home? As a parent if my child couldn't speak the native tongue I would immensely concerned for their welfare if they weren't with me. I would call whatever agency is local to you for sure. It's not being a noisy neighbor so much as a concerned citizen. And if they are immigrants perhaps they are unaware of the dangers faced by kids in your country. As to being a revolving door hang a sign on your door that says NO PLAYING TODAY, when you need a break. And if they still ring the bell point to the sign politely and say 'Now kids I am sure you can read that. If the sign is up please don't ring the bell. If the sign is down then you can ring the bell.' Oh the joys of being the good parent on the block who is friendly and feeds the hungry masses Soon school like you said will be back in and the kids will thin out. Hang in there
