When we lived out in the country, the subject of neighbor kids wasn't much of an issue. There was one girl, whose house was up near the end of our driveway. When she wanted to play with Ben and Olette, she would stand at the end of her yard and yell for them. They would play happily, and loudly, without breaking any rules. I only needed to peek out of the window every once in awhile.
Now we live in town. In a subdivision. With lots of neighbors, who have lots of little neighbor kids. Some of them are nice, respectful, well-behaved children who I don't mind having over to play with my kids. Others of them-- and, unfortunately, the ones who show up the most often, are very much less awesome.
I've pretty much reached the end of my rope with the not-so-awesome ones. They don't listen. They don't respect the rules. They wander into our (fenced in!) yard and play on the trampoline and swing set even when my kids aren't out there. (I'm dreading how much worse it's going to get once we set up a swimming pool next year... we might be getting a taller fence!) They're constantly knocking on the door, asking if Ben and Olette can play, and after we tell them Ben and Olette will be out after dinner (or homework, or chores, or whatever they're in the middle of), they wait three minutes and knock on the door again. These kids are going to drive me insane!
I've tried being nice. I've tried being firm. I've explained that failure to follow the rules will result in being sent home. I've sent them home! (It doesn't help, they just move on to the next kids' house, instead.) What can I do about these wild neighbor kids?! Should I just ban them from our house and yard forever? They're not the only kids my kids play with in the neighborhood, but they all have fun together. So banishing them kind of punishes my kids, too.
So I'm turning to you, oh great and wise internet, for answers. If anyone has any helpful advice, that would be great!
*No, I'm not actually suggesting I would start shooting neighbor kids. That would be illegal. And wrong.
I havent experienced that yet. Mine are the only kids on the street their age. I've had the older kids over but they are too rough and exclude mine from their games. Then the older kids lost interest.
ReplyDeleteIn your case, you have tried all your options you can at your own home. My suggestion is, invite the parent over or go to their house and discuss. The worse that can happen is the kid's parent won't let the trouble maker near your house. The best, the parent will scold the child or punish them if they misbehave again.