How to deal with the neighbor's children?

Question

Help! We feel like prisoner's in our own home constantly being badgered by neighbor's children.

My boys are 13 and 11. Neighbor's children are 7 year old twins (just turned 7).

The second I pull into my driveway after a long day of work, the neighbor's children are there asking if my son's can play. The doorbell rings at 9 a.m. on the weekends -- we are not morning people and typically don't even get out of bed till noon. We cannot go into our yard without them running over the second we walk out of the door. We live on a corner lot, so this holds true for the backyard as well.

We rent, so it is not possible to put up a fence. In fact, the backyard is fenced and the neighbor's children climb over it.

We have spoken with our neighbor's several times. We have even gone so far as to disable our doorbell -- now they just knock on the door and won't stop till door is answered -- I waited an hour one day.

How do you deal with people like this?

Answer 1

I know its going to sound bad but get your sprinkler controls moved inside the house...point one at the door.  and just turn them on when they are in your yard.  Not hurting anyone it should stop the early morning wake up calls. Good luck

Answer 2

I appreciate your dilemma, we had the same thing happen years ago while in military housing.  Turned out mom was a drunk and the kids were craving normal family life....

Could you tell the little boys that your sons are only available for a couple of hours a day, say from 1-2 or something like that, and put time parameters on it for them?  If they come over in the morning, remind them and don't let your children play with them except for the time agreed on.  

I would also go over and have a heart to heart, nicely, with both mom and dad, again.  See if you can understand why this is happening on their end, and act accordingly.  

"Dost not turn away strangers for thou may be entertaining angels unaware".. :)

Answer 3

Can you get your husband to answer the door in the nude and shock them?  Maybe if they are embarrassed they won't ever come back.  Seriously, you can't let your kids play with them--ever--or you will never get rid of them.  After they see that your children have moved on they should stop harrassing you.  They have each other for goodness sake, why can't they just play together?

Answer 4

I think somewhere it can be classed as harrassment.  It's no different than if you had a peeping tom.  The age doesn't matter.  If the kids are bothering you, get serious with the parents.  Tell them if their children are not accompanied by one of them, you will consider them unsupervised, and will not consent to let them play.  If you want to get dirty, tell them their children are tresspassing and you might have to resort to filing a complaint.  Or, you could tell your landlord about the situation and tell them you are being harassed, what to do?  The landlord may be helpful in putting up no trespass, tenant only kind of things, or may be willing to write a letter to the neighbors, which might cow them a little.

Answer 5

I had a neighbor whose child was a bit too rough with my daughter when they would play, so I just had to start avoiding being outside when they were out there.  If we were seen - here they come!  

As for the children coming to your door, I would just open it and tell them you are very busy and your kids cannot come out to play with them.  Tell them not to knock on the door anymore, but your kids will come over when they are able to play.  If they do it again, tell them the same thing.  They'll probably go and tell their mom and she will (hopefully) eventually get the hint that you don't have time for your kids to play with them.

Answer 6

You have to go to parents of these children again!  Tell them that you will not tolerate the intrusion on your privacy anymore.

If they act uncooperative or belligerent to you then you have no choice  but to involve the Police and possibly Child Protective services since these parents are not supervising their children.

7 year old children should not be permitted to wander without  an adult knowing their whereabouts. Being polite didn't work so now you have to be firm.

Answer 7

Firmly tell the boys to go home!  Every time they come over, tell them to go home---you don't want them there.

Get a sprinkler with a motion sensor on it (made to repel deer from gardens).  They'll get hosed coming near the door.  Put one in the back yard, too.

Answer 8

How do your own boys feel about them?  I can't imagine many 11 and 13 yr olds wanting to play with 7 yr olds anyway.  

If you told the twins that your boys will call for them if they want to play, how would they respond to that?  My kids would just be like 'erm, no thanks' and that'd be the end of it.  I'd probably send my kids to answer the door and get rid of them themselves if they weren't interested in playing.  There's no reason why you or your husband should have to do it - your boys are the reason they're calling around.

Answer 9

They are being kids. Eventually, they will move on. You only torment yourself by not answering the door right away and letting it go on for an hour! Just answer it and say what you need to. You can always tell them not to come over anymore! Make it simple, remember they are kids.

Answer 10

Since you have talked to the parents, it is time to talk to the children.  Be firm with them, tell them they are behaving rudely and that it is not acceptable.  Tell them they are being inconsiderate and when they act that way, you do not want them around.  Tell them you understand that they like your boys, but your boys don't want to play with them all the time.  Tell them that you will come over and ask them to come play when it is ok to come over, and if they come over uninvited again, they will not be invited to come over for a week.  

If this doesn't work, involve your local authorities.  This family isn't monitoring their children, and it isn't right to expect you to do so.

Answer 11

oh my god do you live next door to my neighbors?Except mine is a rotten 3 year old.I sooooooooooooo feel your pain!!!It is enough to  make you  think of moving isn't it?We were trying to think of a nice way to say something and it got us no-where! luckily the husband is a butt and yelled at me and we just don't speak to them anymore.My best suggestion is to tell your kids to tell them they don't want to play.I imagine your kids have friends their age they'd rather be with and you'd rather have around.And make sure you invite them over fairly frequently.we have had to ignore this child when we ullin the drive also and they did eventually get the hint.They may get mad but may I tell you how peaceful it is at my house now.They think their child is not allowed to talk to my children and I have not corrected it.If we let them play every now and then ,it'll never stop.the parents don't have enough sense to see that your kids might not want them going outside to be a neighborhood event and unfortunately it won't stop untill you make yourself clear.Tell the kids they are not to climb your fence.Yell at them if you have to and if the parents don't likeit,then they can keep;their little asses over home.when the kids ask to play say.. not today..instruct your kids to ignore them in the yard and if they come over anyway,tell them to just come-in.Unfortunately we also had to just leave.we started taking family walks every night(that part has been great for us.)if the parents question you..tell them it's just the age differnce between them and your kids are getting annoyed with the littles always wanting to tag along.Oh my god good luck!!!!I'm afraid poeple like tha you can't be nice to because they don't have any sense and they just wanna pawn their kid on someone else.

Answer 12

Sounds like you are in quite a dilemna, with both the children and their parents. If you were firm with the parents in expressing your concern, now may be the time that you need to get a little more direct. You didn't mention if your kids play with these boys or not. So I really don't have a suggestion on how to deal with the boys directly.

Answer 13

Eat them!

or you could call the police. they will help