I’ve got something brewing around in my head, and I think if I just post about it here and do my grumblings, I can let it go and get over it. I hope. So, if you aren’t interested in my petty griping, just click away.
We have some relatively new neighbors. I loved the previous neighbors and we’re having a hard time getting to know the new neighbors. I thought it would a great thing to have them there, because they have a couple of girls at just the right ages. They could be best friends with our girls and we would all be happy. But so far, the girls aren’t really friends. Not because they aren’t nice. They don’t throw things at us when we try to talk to them or go over offering muffins or cookies or anything like that; they are just extremely busy. And they don’t seem all that interested in being our friends. Which shouldn’t bother me, should it? I mean, I’m an adult. Not everyone has to like me, do they?
YES! They do, in fact. I’m a good person. We’re a nice family. Why wouldn’t they like us? I think I still have that middle school complex going on somewhere in my head where I just want people to like me.
Well, they’ve recently been doing a LOT of work on their house and yard. And I mean a LOT! They are relandscaping the entire yard, putting in a fabulous new playset, moving the inground trampoline from one side of the yard to the other, building a monster deck, pouring concrete pads, putting in a fence…..yada yada yada. Which means that there are trucks out there. All day every day. Lots and lots of trucks, with large equipment, lots of dirt and lots of noise. Trucks that for some reason don’t confine themselves to parking in front of their house, but they have to park in front of my house, too. In front of my driveway, in front of my mailbox. Which I can kind of understand. I guess they have to park somewhere. Over there would be nice, but I do not own the street, so I can deal with a little blockage of my driveway every once in a while. But when they started driving their large bobcat-like things with huge drills attached to them across my grass, I started to lose my patience. Why are they parking that big honkin thing on my grass? Can’t they drive across their own dirt to drill those large poles for their fence? Their fence that will in essence exclude us from enjoying the beauty that is their new yard? Must they gouge up my lawn?
I have been tempted to adjust my sprinklers so they just happen to go off on them while they are working, and leave them on for a very long time. Maybe turn them on while I drive off. Waving goodbye.
But I don’t like feeling bitter towards my neighbors. I don’t want to be that irritated next door neighbor who only finds fault. I really do want to be their friends (and not just so they’ll like me). So I’m admitting my petty irritations here in blogland, so that you can all understand how shallow and irritable I am, and tell me to get over it and move on.
Take a deep breath and let it go.
Then maybe I should go make some brownies and take them over there and share them with all their workmen.
All right, I’m not quite there yet, but I’ll try.
Thanks for listening.
We were very patient with our neighbors as they put in their lawns. We actually waited to put in our lawn for one set because they asked if their huge trucks could drive through our side yards for landscaping. We were nice and said nothing besides the fact that I was SUPER morning sick and their trucks kept on waking up my 18 month old. Then, when we put in our yard, we got complaint after complaint from both sets of neighbors. I made me want to never let any of their things touch our property again. Yes, I have issues.
The entire neighborhood, one stupid silver subaru in particular, has decided that MY house is the house to park in front of. True, very few houses in my neighborhood have driveways, but they ALL have street in front of their houses. Often I walk out front and MY house is the ONLY house with cars in front of it and I have NO ONE visiting me! We even had someone, the stupid subaru, wait in their car until my husband was finished hand watering a flower bed by the street and then the MOVED their car from their perfectly good parking spot across the street to the front of MY HOUSE! I would appreciate it if they at least pretended to visit me once in a while, or at least park at the edge of my property instead of centered in front of MY HOUSE! Yes, no issues here! Not teritorial at all!
Hi~
My email keeps saying it’s delayed getting to you so I thought I would let you know that I got your comment about winning the book and am really excited. Is there another email address I can send my address to?? Let me know. Thanks again.
I think it’s pretty reasonable to request that people not drive on your lawn. You may not own the street, but you DO own your property! Perhaps you could kindly let them know when wielding a nice plate of cookies.
Hi Paige, you don’t know me but I read your blog because I am a friend of Susannah’s and she links to her sister Melinda, who links to you. A vicious cycle. I really enjoy your blog and just wanted to tell you that you are not alone in your irritations with neighbors. We live in a new neighborhood and when we moved in all the yards around us were in the process of having major landscaping done, including ours. One of our neighbors would always be moving dirt and always thought it better to put big truckloads of dirt and junk onto our backyard. It drove me nuts because they would leave it there and I would always have to go over and tell them to move it, I felt like the big snooty lady on the block, but it’s irritating how people feel they can use your property anyway they like. We also put up a fence, never asked our neighbors for a dime to cover their half and now have one neighbor (who we were always on friendly terms with) who will not even look in our direction, let alone say hello anymore because he probably thinks we’re going to ask for money (which we’re not.) Susannah told me to paint that side of the fence pink with big green dots, but I figured I’d be the bigger person. Right? I feel your pain! Ooooh, I also used to be in PRIDE with your sister Chrissy. (sorry this comment is so long!)
I am so sorry to hear about your neighborly woes. Remember, love thy neighbor? It’s SO hard when they can be so nasty soemtimes!
Our next door neighbor to the right doesn’t speak to us. I’ve met his wife and their two children once when we first moved in, but he has never spoken one word to me. We’ve been here for over a year! If he’s outside in the front and I come outside, he turns around and goes inside his house. He doesn’t look, smile, or wave, just turns around and walks inside. Their daughter is a year older than ours and since that one time that I met her, I’ve never seen her. No kidding.
Having said all that, try putting yourself in their shoes (but for only a second or two since I imagine their shoes hurt). They hired someone to do all this landscaping for them. Maybe they aren’t aware of how it’s effecting your beautiful grass, since they’re so busy and all. Bring out some water bottles to the crew, tell them that your neighbors yard is looking great with all the hard work they’ve done, and then kindly ask them to stay off your yard.
And if that doesn’t work, pray, pray, pray. God really is here for us in the big and small.
Wow, this one kind of opened up a can of worms. It looks like I’m not the only one with strong feelings on neighbors and parking and things like that. I just want to let you all know that we are still friendly with these neighbors, and I’m sure once all the trucks leave it will be a lovely yard. And I was just kind of letting off a little steam. But I appreciate the comments, as they let me know I’m not alone in my frustration.
I’d love to let off steam about my own neighbors. We had a vacant house that should have been condemned next to us ever since the previous owner was taken to jail. Well, about three months ago, some people moved in, set up a big set of pipes that spray mist all along our landlord’s wooden fence, and play horse shoes and music and smoke cigarettes, while letting their kids drive around up and down behind our property in a go-cart with a really annoying toy-sounding horn. Sometimes they do this until past midnight! The noise is annoying, but the worst thing is that my kids can’t play out in the yard for long anymore without my fear of them getting cancer from secondhand smoke. I mentioned it to another neighbor, and she recalled the time when her across-the-street neighbors were party animals, but then someone was nice to them and invited them to church and loved them, and now they’re great neighbors and have testimonies. It was nice to hear, but I don’t think I can be that kind of neighbor when I want to call the police on them! Grumble Grumble Grumble.
Gripe gripe gripe.
I couldn’t resist commenting. Perfectly written!
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