Having people use your property without permission can be incredibly irritating.
If you’re on good terms with your neighbours, it might not be unusual to share your garden space with them – provided they offer the same kindness in return.
For instance, one house on the street may have a swimming pool they’re happy for neighbours to dip into now and then, or perhaps another has a fruit tree whose bounty they’ve agreed can be harvested by those who’ll make better use of it than themselves.
However, it’s crucial to always seek the homeowner’s consent before you start using their private space as your own. This is common knowledge for most, but one man claimed his neighbours lack this understanding. He shared his neighbour’s children habitually play in his garden without asking – and the parents don’t seem to mind.
In a Reddit post, the man detailed he is “friendly but not friends” with his neighbours. He and his wife are childless, whereas nearby homes are filled with kids, and the school bus stops right outside his house.
The children often “run around on the grass” of his front garden while waiting for the bus, which he tolerated until recently when the situation escalated.
He explained: “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.”
Things escalated when the children’s mother started “yelling” at his wife, insisting she doesn’t get to “parent her children” and she should have spoken directly to her, not the kids. Dissatisfied with the parental response, the man sought retaliation.
He contacted the school district and requested the bus stop be moved from in front of his home. Now the irate parents are lashing out at the couple, branding them “pathetic” and alleging they are “bullying” the kids.
The man added: “We’re two introverted people, so we are not comfortable in these situations and are a bit disheartened that 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.”
Commenters on the post largely supported the man and his wife, arguing their approach was justified. Many also criticised the parents for failing to supervise their children properly.
One person commented: “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.”
