Your home is meant to be your sanctuary. A place where you can close the door on the outside world, kick off your shoes, walk around in your underwear and sing in the shower. The last thing you need is someone trying to invade that precious privacy.
One woman, who’d had enough of the neighborhood kids peeking through her windows, gently told them off. But when she approached their grandma about it, things went sideways fast. She shared her story with an online community.
More info: Reddit
It’s normal to expect privacy under your own roof, but some people don’t always respect that
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
A woman got stuck in a bit of a loop retrieving her neighbor’s grandkids’ ball, which they kept kicking over her fence
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She didn’t mind giving the ball back, but the kids had a habit of staring into her place through her windows
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Irked, she tried talking to the kids’ grandmother about it, but the old woman basically called her a spoilsport before stomping off
Image credits: beaversm26
Now the woman has turned to an online community to ask if she was being a jerk, or just making a reasonable request
The original poster (OP) and her husband share a quiet house with a fenced yard, next to neighbors who often host their grandkids. The kids sometimes kick balls over the fence, and OP never minded helping retrieve them. But recently, things crossed a line when the kids began peering through the couple’s windows after knocking.
One evening, OP checked her outdoor camera and saw the kids pressed up against the glass, yelling, “We know you’re home! Give us our ball!” for nearly five minutes. She hadn’t heard the door because she was in the basement caring for sick foster kittens, unaware of the children’s commotion.
When they returned the next day, she politely asked where their parents were and returned the ball. Their grandmother was nearby, and when the OP mentioned she didn’t like the kids looking through her windows, she dismissed it, all while the boys kept staring inside like they owned the place.
Trying to stay calm, OP explained she didn’t mind fetching balls, asking only that they stay by the door instead of peering in. Their grandmother, however, took offense, telling the kids to “stay off her property.” Now OP is wondering: was asking for privacy unreasonable, or did a basic boundary somehow make her the neighborhood villain?
Let’s face it. Having your privacy invaded in any way is enough to annoy even the most Zen homeowners, and OP seems pretty chilled, at least about giving the kids their ball back. But how exactly do you get children to grasp that some things, like people’s personal space, are absolutely off-limits? We went hunting for answers.
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
According to the pros over at the Child Mind Institute, as kids get older, boundaries for social interaction become even more important. They need to learn to set boundaries for themselves and respect those of others. And that takes empathy; basically, being able to recognize what other people want and need, plus what they themselves want and need.
“Empathy is something we think of as being very adult,” says Mandi Silverman, PsyD, a clinical psychologist. “But in reality, by age 3 most kids will instinctually show concern for a crying friend, or realize when someone has a ‘booboo’ and want to give it a band-aid.”
That’s all fascinating, for sure, but what can OP legally do while she waits for the kids’ parents, or grandparents, to teach them about that stuff? Robert Rafii, Esq, from LawInfo, says that neighbor disputes don’t have to be dramatic.
As a tenant or homeowner, you have rights to the enjoyment of your property. Want to enforce those rights? Start by asking nicely. If the nice approach crashes and burns, loop in your local police department. Still getting nowhere? Take your neighbor to small claims court and let a judge sort it out.
Well, OP’s attempt at a polite request seemed to fall on deaf ears. Perhaps the grandmother’s solution to the problem, despite her lousy attitude, was the best one. After all, nothing says “stop peeking through her windows” like “stay out of her yard.”
What do you think? Was OP out of line, or do the peeping kids need a long lesson in basic manners? Share your thoughts in the comments!
In the comments, readers seemed to enthusiastically agree that the original poster was not being a jerk but that the problem seemed to be solved now anyway
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