stse586 Posted September 25, 2010 Posted September 25, 2010 My family that lived next door to us moved out earlier this year and a couple with five children, ages 2 through12, moved in. We are pretty friendly people and enjoyed talking to them. They were working on the house for a couple of months before moving in a few months ago. The kids are always trying to come over. The parents don't watch their children a lot, and they are left to entertain themselves. I've even caught their 2 year old wandering around by herself. All the houses in my neighborhood have 7 to 9 acres. There are woods (and I hear coyotes often), drainage canals, etc that could be dangerous for a young kid. I have chickens, dogs, a small flock of sheep, and a horse which attracts the kids. The five year old boy is constantly trying to come over. He is loud, doesn't listen, and can be quite irritating. I nicely tell him to go home and not to come over more than once a week. He still tries to often. He screams and runs at the chickens and sheep and taunts the dogs. It is causing some tension between my husband and I since we are trying to have children since spring. He thinks that I must not like kids overall since I don't want these kids over all the time. Ugh. He likes kids, and I think he wants them so bad it's like a substitute for him. I can't get pregnant faster than I do though. I don't want problems with the neighbors and I am a non confrontational person. I am about at the point of talking to the parents about their kids. The girls which are older than the boy, except the 2 yr old, are nice to be around but so much with the boy. And he's the one that is always watching for us to be outside. I planted a 200ft long butterfly bush hedge to limit what they can see, but it didn't take off this summer. I try to do outside chores when they aren't out or now at school (which is easier). I seriously don't know what to do. I don't want my husband to be mad and I don't want to be bothered all the time. My non confrontational nature just wants the problem to just disappear which I doubt it will.
that girl Posted September 26, 2010 Posted September 26, 2010 The five year old boy is constantly trying to come over. He is loud, doesn't listen, and can be quite irritating. I nicely tell him to go home and not to come over more than once a week. He still tries to often. A 5 year old is not going to understand the concept of "once a week." He probably will get "You can only come over on Sunday" but even that is a little iffy. Five year olds do not generally understand concepts like once a week well. Since you are trying to have kids, you might want to get some child development books just for your own self improvement. But if a five year old is bugging you that much, you should approach the parents nicely and ask them to deal with it.
worlybear Posted September 26, 2010 Posted September 26, 2010 Hi. Read your thread with interest. It sounds like the parents have their hands full. There's a few things you could do- if the 5 yr old keeps coming over is there anyway you could give him a little area of garden to work on or could he feed the chickens after you've shown him how? I know its not really up to you to be looking out for him but it would be probably less disruptive if you gave him something constructive to do ,regularly and he will probably surprise you and rise to the challenge as he sounds bored and you get to practise with kids! Another way forward is to help your neighbour find out if there is any child-care/play school etc she could enrol her younger kids in. Good luck!
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