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getting worked up because some young neighbor child made a chalk drawing on a driveway is a perfect definition of "uptight"
Perhaps to you..to me it comes down to parents not teaching children boundaries.....have tons of kids in my neighborhood and have never had a problem like this.
I NEVER allowed my children to run all over the neighbors lawn or driveway unless they were invited.
When walking my dog I don't allow her to pee on anyone's lawn and I pick up her waste, it comes down to COMMON courtesy which seems to have fallen by the wayside this day & age...
I don't think it's OK either, but the comment about burning all your bridges is decent advice. You definitely do not want to alienate ALL the parents on your street/culdesac. If there is one set of parents who are total d-bags, by all means go to war with them
Agree..my first step would be to talk to the parents and request that unless your child is invited please ask them to stay off my lawn & driveway
We moved into a development of young families and a lot of kids. We have no kids of our own yet. For some reason the kids love to play on and cut through our property. In the winter, they made a mess of my driveway and sidewalk after I shoveled snow, making forts, and force us to reshovel multiple times. Now we come home to games drawn all over our driveway with play chaulk. We don't even have kids and the homes they come from have none of this happening on their property. It's almost as if the parents tell them to play on our property as to not mess up theirs!
We work all day so are not home when this is happening. I don't want to be the bad guy on the block, but how should we politely rectify this?
WHAT???!!!! I wouldn't even think about the courtesy of politeness. Kids need boundaries, and if the day-dreamin' parents are too up in the clouds to notice, you go right ahead and point it out. It astounds me how so many kids have no repect - or no though - of others' property.
I'm likewise amazed at how many feel the OP by not wanting kids tromping through his yard and chalking up his driveway is selfish, uptight or wrong.
It's not the OP who is wrong, it's the parents of these children who are the problem.
This is the OP's property not the other families in the neighborhood.
If they want a playground for their children then they should put one in and not expect neighbors yards to be used for thiswithout permission.
Wonder why these children are not marking up their own driveways? Possibly the parents told them not to so they moved to nearest piece of asphalt they could use. (no one's home, no one can say anything)
Parents appear to not be teaching their children to respect other peoples property and boundaries.
You can't use the excuse that maybe the parents didn't know what their children were doing. This doesn't work as they should know where their children are playing.
The excuse that maybe these kids did this in the past doesn't fly either as I'm sure the previous owner and the OP didn't change ownership and move in the middle of the night. Neighborhood parents knew there were new owners, they should have informed their children that the could no longer play there.
The OP should investigate options such as the homeowners association if there is one and also speak to the parents of these children.
I agree with those of you that think allowing kids to do this is wrong.
This is a true account. My daughter just received a big bucket of driveway chalk at a birthday party. Our driveway is crushed stone. I live in a shore community and one of my neighbors is only down in the summer. They have a double wide paved driveway and I called them up north to ask if they would mind if my daughter used the chalk on their driveway. I knew what the answer would be but it was simple common courtesy.
When did expecting courtesy and respect become "uptight"?
And BTW, there is a potential for liability if one of these kids gets hurt on the property. Granted, kids will be kids. Balls will go onto a neighbors property. Dogs will get loose. But I would never allow my child to play or trespass on another person's property.
Kids like to play games and run through peoples yards. Its part of being a kid. I remember as a kid I would cut through some guys yard to go to my friends because if I went that way, it was like 1/10 of a mile away. Compared to Half a mile or so if I were to walk along the roads.
A lot of you guys really need to lighten up. No one is going to sue you if some kid scrapes his leg cutting through your property.... That is ridiculous
Kids like to play games and run through peoples yards. Its part of being a kid. I remember as a kid I would cut through some guys yard to go to my friends because if I went that way, it was like 1/10 of a mile away. Compared to Half a mile or so if I were to walk along the roads.
A lot of you guys really need to lighten up. No one is going to sue you if some kid scrapes his leg cutting through your property.... That is ridiculous
I really don't get this attitude. They are not just cutting through, they are riding their bikes on his lawn and putting ruts in it. Some people spend and do a lot to care for their lawns, and why is he uptight to want to have his OWN property look the way he wants it? Drawing with chalk all over someone else's property? Why should he have to come home from work and wash his driveway? You can also bet the farm that if one of these kids trips on a rake left outside and gets hurt, this man will be SUED whether he was home or not, it is not ridiculous. Heck, burglars have sued homeowners and won for getting hurt breaking into their homes!
It is a sad world to me anymore. My mother would have killed me had I been so rude and disrespectful to another's property and privacy.
A lot of you guys really need to lighten up. No one is going to sue you if some kid scrapes his leg cutting through your property.... That is ridiculous
I really wish that was true but sadly it's not. We live in a litigious world where people sue for any little thing.
Somehow I believe that parents who don't teach their children to respect others peoples property and possessions would be the first to sue or cast blame if their child was hurt on someone elses property.
I worked for a new home builder..was the warranty service tech.. went to a house just sold and the owners were two very young school teachers. I had to replace a kitchen cabinet..I notice 8 children playing (football) in the back yard of this new owner..I did tell them the sod is new and you have to let it settle your kids will ruin it.
He told me its not his kids..slightest idea who they were! I asked why don't you kick them off your property then..he said I'm a school teacher can't do that..I said well I'm not a school teacher..I yelled at those kids and they ran like hell!..Yes I'm not polite (but not an idiot either)!
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I wouldn't even think about the courtesy of politeness. Kids need boundaries, and if the day-dreamin' parents are too up in the clouds to notice, you go right ahead and point it out. It astounds me how so many kids have no repect - or no though - of others' property.
