I pit my neighbors 4 heathen children for continually messing with my garden. Last fall it was pulling all my green tomatoes off my vines and throwing them all over our condo complex. This spring they have stomped all over my just barely peeking through tulips and daffodils. Not to mention REPEATEDLY pulling out my little decorative fence.
I hate their father because he is a total dick who threatened to kick my dog in the head, and I am pretty ticked at the single mom because she has zero control over her little monsters. Screaming and pounding on the walls is a common occurrence, not to mention the fairly common ding dong ditching done by the 6 year old. Polite conversations about any of the above have been ignored. Now the lady won’t even answer the door. Even in the case of her van doors being open over night and her battery dying. I try to cut the lady some slack because she is a divorced mother of 4 kids, but she makes it damn hard.
I wish I had simple, effective answers for you, but apart from calling the cops and/or sicking an attorney on them, there isn’t a whole lot to be done (and the above remedies are far from guaranteed to do any good). You could try writing a polite and detailed letter first detailing the atrocious behavior and your determination to seek appropriate action if it does not drastically improve in short order.
One of my colleagues last week related a story about the neighbor kids who decided to create a passageway through his hedge of hemlock trees (so they could ride a bike through his property). They did so, with hedge clippers. Now there’s a nice big hole in his hedge as part of their bike path.
You could put up a good solid (nonclippable) fence of your own, but I’m sure you’ve already considered the monetary and other aspects of that move.
That’s the problem - everyone these days pities the “single mom” so much and cut her so much slack that most of their children are this close to criminals. We’ve had kids ruin things in our gardens too, as well as kicking a soccer ball against the garage door and denting it. I’ve had more luck threatening the kids with bodily harm than talking to the mothers, but YMMV.
I don’t suppose you could befriend the little hoodlums? Not that they deserve it, or that you’re obligated to, or that it would necessarily “work,” but if it did, it would be the best thing all around. It’s not their fault that their father’s a dick and their mother isn’t Mom of the Year. Maybe they need some positive influences in their lives—an adult who is actually kind to them and treats them like human beings.
Unfortunately, the condo does have a board, but they pretty much don’t do ANYTHING. As for befriending the kids, they are kind of too young to befriend. MAYBE the oldest is old enough, but he is the worst of the bunch.
I just want some nice flowers.
I HAVE thought about the “chemical warfare” thing though.
Well if you are near Portman Road, you are probably used to people kicking a ball at a goal sized target and missing by half a mile or so. If the ball actually hits, it can do damage.
Have you tried making a complaint here? Because you’ve got destruction and damage of property, criminal mischief, littering, harassment, child neglect and malicious threats, all from one family. That’s a pretty steep bill.
If they’re not willing to do anything about it, how about if you run for condo board on the platform of “actually doing things.”
