more neighborly advice... (1 Viewer)

[Philip_G]

Ok, just want to make sure I'm not being unreasonable, maybe I am who knows.

simple, my front yard is dirt, and the neighbors are allowing their kids to play in the dirt, well, MY dirt on my property. I don't like it, and don't like them that close to my driveway where they can leave toys or get run over.
would it be unreasonable to kindly ask the neighbor to keep their little brats on their side of the line?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

No. unless your neighbor is willing to pay the property taxes for their kids' new playground, you have every right to want them off YOUR property. You also have liability concerns to think of. If one of the brats gets hurt on your property, guess who gets sued?

Of course, you could always go making a mess on their front lawn and see how long that lasts.

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

It's hard to not sound mean when you're telling the kids to stay off the dirt unless they are making a mess, or creating a hazard. Then again, it is your dirt, so you have every right to tell them they can't play there.

What if you make it into a dirt garden? Then you can tell them to stay off your garden. That sounds better...

 

[Philip_G]

the funny thing is she has a sign that is a wooden outline of a dog squatting that says NO on it stuck in the front yard. I wonder if I could get one of a kid playing that says NO!


thanks for the input. I hate to come off as a jerk.

they do kind of make a mess, they play with dump trucks and occasionally shovels? (WTF?) and just in general irritate me when I'm trying to work on my car or in the garage

 

[Andrew W]

seed it with rye or something temporary and then ask them to stay off because it's growing.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

There's no saying you won't come off as a jerk, but it's your property, so you have the say in who is and isn't on it. Tell them you are trying to get the dirt to settle so you can get on with landscaping, a least that has some merit behind it.

As for the kids being irritating, I know what you mean. If I wanted rug rats around all the time I'd at least have the fun of trying create some of my own!

I sound like a curmugeon (sp?)...

 

[Kevin T]

curmudgeon

 

[Philip_G]

I just don't like them around. We both work nights and they aren't helping the sleeping any.

it's a strange phenom, all the overweight stay at home moms sit in lawnchair in their driveways all day and watch the little rugrats run amok, I don't get it.

they know better, the builder will rock the area they're in.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Buy some fertilizer - (the smelly kind) and spread it out before you seed.

Glenn

 

[Jay H]

Buy.. Why should Philip have to spend money to keep neighbor's kids off his property.

I was going to suggest to take a dump on the dirt and say "feel free to play in it".

Jay

 

[Julian Reville]

I'd string some barbed wire and put up some signs with skulls & crossbones pictures captioned "HALT!! MINEFIELD!!"

 

[Philip_G]

that.... is AWESOME

 

[Dave Poehlman]

You don't have any kids... do you, Philip?

Kids are drawn to dirt... it's a simple fact.

We seeded our yard last summer and bought my kid a $1000 playset for the backyard... and where does he go to play? In the vacant lot across the street. :rolleyes

Plant some grass.. that'll keep those kids away.

 

[John Alvarez]

I had the same probelm with kids walking behind my house on the pond bank asa short cut. I told them nicely not to cut through my yard. I also told their parents that if they continue to do it they may see a hairy ass against a sliding glass door one day....

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Back when I was a kid, we would routinely trespass during our daily adventures, and only very rarely did it cause trouble-like catching the neighbors having a little backyard intimacy. Of course, back then, we weren't doing anything nefarious, just taking shortcuts or exploring. These days it is not so innocent in a lot of cases, with kids scoping your houses for B&E potential, or stealing from the yard.

 

[Joe Szott]

You should do what we did when living on a half acre that kids liked to hang around on and play in: teach them the weeding game. Where if they pull up every weed on the lot they get a popsicle/cookie. Give their little idle hands something to do. I didn't pull up a single weed for 5 years