Having individuals use your property without consent can be infuriating.
If you enjoy a cordial relationship with your neighbours, sharing garden space may not be unusual – provided the favour is reciprocated. Perhaps one house on the street has a pool they’re willing to share occasionally, or someone else has a fruit tree they’ve agreed can be picked by those who’ll utilise the produce more.
However, obtaining permission from the homeowner is essential before entering and using their private space. While most people understand this, one man claimed his neighbours lack consideration.
He stated his neighbour’s kids frequently play in his garden without permission, and their parents don’t see the issue.
In a Reddit post, the man explained he is “friendly but not friends” with his neighbours. He mentioned he and his wife are childless, but the surrounding houses have kids, and the school bus stops directly outside their home.
The children often “run around on the grass” in the man’s front garden while waiting for the bus, but he didn’t mind until recently when things went “too far”.
He recounted: “After the bus dropped them off, they were on our property raking leaves into piles, jumping in them, and shaking little trees to bring down more leaves.
“We feel this exposes us to liability if anything were to happen and is frankly disrespectful to our property. My wife kindly asked the kids not to play in our yard, and the mum, who was in her own yard, sternly said she had already told them not to do that after having to go inside for a phone call.”
As the situation escalated, the children’s mother began “yelling” at the man’s wife, outraged by the interference. “She doesn’t get to ‘parent her children’,” the mother declared.
It led the husband to execute his form of retribution by requesting the school district relocate the bus stop away from their house. This has only served to aggravate the parents more, hurling accusations of the couple being “pathetic” and engaging in “bullying” their children.
He added: “We’re two introverted people, so we are not comfortable in these situations and are a bit disheartened this happened. We were always ‘friendly’ but didn’t go out of our way to be ‘buddy-buddy’ with our neighbours when it was hard enough to maintain other friendships.
“We didn’t really talk with them before, so nothing will really change now, but we just would have preferred this not to have occurred at all in the first place.”
Those who commented on the post largely supported the couple, arguing their approach was justified. Several also criticised the parents for failing to adequately supervise their children.
One commenter stated: “Nope, you’re not wrong. There are liabilities with kids being in your yard, and if something happened, they’d be looking at you. Parents need to parent their kids.”
Another added: “It’s basic respect. You don’t go on someone else’s yard without being invited. We knew this without having to be told.”