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Neighbor kids - would this bother you?
Our house is on a corner, and there's a school bus stop at our house. There are no sidewalks along the front or side of our house, so the kids have to either wait in the street for the bus, or stand on our yard. Since I would feel unsafe having them wait in the street. I'm fine with them standing on our yard.
The problem is that the kids don't just stand on the corner of our yard while they wait for the bus, they run all over our yard, and even into the street. The play tag and chase each other. They crawl under our spruce tree looking for pine cones. I caught one of the boys trying to climb up the trunk of our linden tree one day.
One morning, I was going out in the back yard (which is fenced) with the dog, and found 2 boys in our back yard. They let themselves in through the gate. I nicely asked them not to open the gate and come into our back yard, because opening the gate could allow our dog to escape. In reality, we never let the dog hang out in the yard unsupervised, and even if we did, he's not a runner and would likely stay in our yard even if the fence gate was open. But the kids don't know that, so I told them that the gate had to stay shut because of our dog. I haven't seen any kids in our back yard since then, so they did listen to me.
They are still running all over the front yard, climbing up & under trees and such things. I see them run into the street chasing each other and they seem completely unaware that they're in a street and should look for cars first. Granted, we live in a quiet neighborhood with minimal traffic, but still. Everyone in our "circle" of about 25 houses has to drive by the bus stop corner - it's the only way in or out of the neighborhood - so there is some traffic in the mornings as people are leaving for work.
I'm worried that one of the kids will get hurt and there won't be any adults around to help. The parents do not come to the bus stop with the kids, so I'm sure the parents aren't aware of what the kids are doing. I leave for work around the time the kids are waiting for the bus, and Andy is already gone for the day, so there's not always someone home at our house either.
Should I say something to the kids about their behavior and tell them to just stand at the corner and wait for the bus so no one gets hurt?
Should I skip talking to the kids and talk to the parents? I know some of their parents, but we're not close. I've met them, but we aren't friends or anything.
Or am I worrying over nothing? Should I just let the kids be kids and leave it to the parents to be concerned over their safety?
Mr. Sammy Dog
Re: Neighbor kids - would this bother you?
Judging
Hm. Putting my parent on, I would say "kids will be kids" until they're TOLD better. So my thought is to tell the kids as nicely as possible to stop running around your yard and trees (you can't control anything but your private property.) If my son were in that group, he'd listen to you and stop.
If it then becomes a problem, I'd want to know about it as a parent. But escalating it right away may backfire if you're able to be "cool" but direct like, "Yo! I know waiting is really boring but you have to stop running in my yard and in my trees. I don't want to have to talk to your parents, OK?" and then judge their response. If they flip you off, then I'd tell a few parents and probably call the school to let them know the street corner and what kids are doing.
hth?
That would most definitely bother me. Big time.
Is there a way to get a list from the school of the kids who are assigned to that bus stop? You could write a letter to the parents and word it in a way that you're worried about the safety of the kids. Make it secondary that you're ticked they are climbing all over your yard. I wouldn't talk to the kids directly myself but maybe you're comfortable doing that. If you can't get the info could a mass letter go out to the immediate neighborhood where you know the kids are from?