To the neighbors who we barely know, whose kindergartner and 2nd grader come to play on our front lawn just about every day:
Please come talk to us. Please come make sure we are not lunatics. Ask us if we have any guns in the house (NO) or if we have a dog that might bite (NO). Ask us if we allow hitting (NO). Ask us if we drink and swear while sitting out in the driveway watching the kids play (NO). Ask us if we even *watch* the kids while they play! (YES, WE DO!) Wouldn’t you like to know that I am keeping your kids safe? Did you know that I refuse to let them inside the house (even though they beg to see the hamster) because I would not want some neighbor taking my kids inside without my knowledge. Did you know that BAGD kept your son from standing on top of those big electrical transformer boxes the other day? Did you know that your daughter wet her pants at my house the other day because she knows I will not let her inside the house and she was having too much fun in my front yard to run home to pee?
My kids are only 4 1/2, so we do not let them run the neighborhood. We are happy to have your kids come over to play with us when we are in the front yard. They are nice kids. But, wouldn’t you like to know that they are OK while they are here? On Monday they were here for over an hour. No one came to check on them, we finally sent them home at dinnertime.
Luckily for you, we ARE nice people. I do keep your kids safe when they are here. But you have no way of knowing that. You should come down and check on them.
Sincerely,
your nice neighbors
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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I have this very issue. It just drives me nuts, I have to know the parents before my kids can play over at someone’s house or yard.
Another blogger I read had the same problem but with the new swingset she put in her backyard. I don’t have a lawn. We live in a complex so it doesn’t matter. But that is rude of them. And of the parents for letting them do it.
I am a mother of 3 children.
We have many, many guns in the house.
Each of them are locked in a gun safe or a quick-access safe, which ONLY my husband and myself know the combination to.
The ammunition is locked up separately, except in the case of our 2 home defense guns, both in the quick-access (combination) safe.
In 1993, My 88 year old grandmother was living alone in her farmhouse in Ohio, where 2 men kicked her door down at about 2:30am. She had been a shooter all her life, and grabbed the shotgun my Grandpa had always kept by the bed, and managed to chase them off her property.
No one was hurt, although she was very shaken up. She kept her wits about her, used the tools she had at her disposal, and averted what could have been the end of her life, because she had a gun.
Having guns in the house does NOT…DOES NOT… make someone a bad person, a bad parent, or an unacceptable Neighbor. I certainly hope you realize that.
I also grew up in a house with guns; hunting is very big in WI.
Gun owners have an obligation to keep their weapons out of the hands of others and to use them safely, if at all. Parents have an obligation to be aware of all potential threats to their children, which includes news-worthy things like guns and sexual predators, but also less thought of things like un-gated pools, aggressive dogs, non-peanut free homes (if applicable) and unsupervised play dates.
If you choose to have guns in your home, that is your choice. If I choose not to send my kids to your house because I do not agree with the way you treat and safeguard your weapons, that is my choice. But I will never know how you treat and safeguard your weapons if I do not ask you. Its important that parents think to ask the question. And the many other questions that I posed in my post.
Why don’t you go talk to the neighbors, rather than just writing about it?
Well written … and so true. Our former neighbours did this (though we knew them slightly) … except their girls were 2y and 5yrs .They also had a deep dirty,slimy banked creek that bordered their 2.5acre property the far side, ours was 1 acre and fairly open but with sheds/dirt banks and stuff they couldn’t had kept an eye on them easily.
It was more when their father was home alone with them. We had a dog (who was known to nip when children hit him).One day I found their 2 yr old in our backyard ,in long pretty dress riding our toddlerbike which trapped the long dress under the wheels,bike toppled backwards,she hit her head hard on the brick pavers – I saw her… and the long incredile silent cry – I ran her home and couldn’t find him for a good few minutes – no one even asked us if they could play there … she could walked down to the unfenced dam across the road or the creek.
The 5yr regularly came over for an hour or two , and she wet her pants too in our sandpit or tried to get into the pool area or helped herself to our fridge.
Amazing what some people let their precious kids do.
Ryan,
It is their kids coming over to our yard. I don’t care whose kid comes over to our yard but I will have an interest in who the parents are when our kids are old enough to wander over to other people’s houses.