Page 13 | Letting children chalk public pavement

RainbowRanger29 · 2025-09-09T10:45:41+00:00

Hi, So wondering AITA for allowing my young child (age 5) to draw with chalk on the public pavement? My child was happy out drawing pictures and writing her name with chalk in the front garden with her little friends from the street. They ran out of space in the garden and continued there colourful chalk drawings along the public pavement outside the house. No one owns the public footpath (its not anyone's actual property) and they drew along outside around 5/6 houses. They drew rainbows and houses and wrote their names and a hopscotch. Nothing offensive but not exactly amazing art (they are only 5!) One of the neighbours arrived home and appeared visibly annoyed with the chalk, the kids asked if they like their art and they ignored them, went inside, got their hose and washed the chalk away from the public footpath outside of their house only. The children were still out drawing and got upset that they had washed it away (mummy didn't they like our pictures? Why are they washing it away? Etc) We live in the UK and it rains an awful lot! It would have washed away anyway later that evening when it rained ... I think it was mean of them to hose it away in front of the kids (surely they could of waited until the kids had stopped playing?) Or is it me ... should I have not allowed them to chalk the public footpath? Is it kids being kids enjoying chalking public areas? I used to do this as a kid and it never seemed to upset anyone? Or is it disrespectful to allow children to chalk on public footpaths outside of other people's home? Interested on everyone's opinions

MyOliveStork · 09/09/2025 13:28

No he is a miserable sod with no joy in his life and takes great joy from being a dark gloomy cloud of misery. Ignore him and move on. The fact he ignored the children and hosed it off in front of them speaks volumes about him. It’s one thing to have a quiet grumble once in his house but that’s just cruel.
valuable lesson to daughter, yes there are people like this in the world around us, don’t let them bother you.
Hope she continues to enjoy herself with her chalk x

MyRubyFox · 09/09/2025 13:28

Because I don't want a load of gharish scrawl outside of my house. Whilst you may look on with the eyes of a loving, doting Mum and see pretty pictures, some people, like me have worked incredibly hard after many years to buy their house and because of this take great pride in how it looks. It wouldn't annoy me greatly just be a bit niggled and hope it rains soon. Agree the neighbour should have been a bit more kindly with the children when getting rid of chalking.

ShesTheAlbatross · 09/09/2025 13:27

Pricelessadvice · 09/09/2025 13:15

I’m so glad someone else thinks this!

It seems that if you don’t find everything children do sweet and endearing, you must be a sad, lonely monster.

I have zero interest in children. I don’t get any warm, fuzzy feelings seeing them playing out/chalking pavements.

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I don’t get warm fuzzy feelings either. I just think, oh there’s chalk there. And then probably immediately forget. I cannot imagine caring enough to get a hose out. I’d be completely neutral on it.

Regardless of children, I do think it is grumpy to deliberately ruin someone else’s enjoyment of something that isn’t affecting you.

OnTheRoof · 09/09/2025 13:26

Yanbu, and there are much worse terms than joyless for your neighbours behaviour. What a pair of arseholes.

BoredZelda · 09/09/2025 13:24

ClawedButler · 09/09/2025 13:18

To be fair....you do sound quite joyless.

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Thanks for proving my point nicely.

If you think it’s joyless to not want kids to wreck trees and damage cars, that’s a strange stance to take.

TheKhakiQuail · 09/09/2025 13:23

It wouldn't bother me, but not everyone likes it. My friend who encourages her children & their friends to do this makes washing it away at the end part of the game.

OnTheBoardwalk · 09/09/2025 13:23

Wouldn’t bother me but can see why it would be annoying for others. I certainly wouldn’t be gushing over ‘their masterpieces' and letting them get upset because people didn’t like their scrawlings

I'd just let your kids carry on chalking but not outside their front door

Wishihadanalgorithm · 09/09/2025 13:23

Hang on… I know the answer to this: There is no problem with children chalking the pavement.

Someone from my village complained to the council about this as they were selling their house and were worried it would put off potential buyers.

Anyway, they got told it’s not criminal damage and so it’s fine.

It ended up on a FB group and we saw the letter the council sent out to parents who had received the complaint about their children drawing with chalk.

To quote Shakespeare: much ado about nothing.

theDudesmummy · 09/09/2025 13:22

Well at least the grumpy sod will be remembered on this earth for a long time, if that was ever an aim of theirs. I am in my 60s and I still remember "the old lady next door" from when I was about six. We had a shared garden with her. Me and my brother had a little gang of kids on the street and sometimes we would use the garden for our adventures. Nothing destructive or loud, just normal playing. She would complain to our parents every single time, saying that "children should be seen and not heard". I am sure she has been gone and pushing up daisies for many a year but she is not forgotten, over 55 years later!

nomas · 09/09/2025 13:22

BoredZelda · 09/09/2025 13:10

Can we stop calling anyone who doesn’t want to pander to children’s whims as joyless and grumpy. “It’s just kids playing” is a euphemism for “my kids can do whatever they like”. If a kid drew a lovely rainbow on the path outside my house, sure, it might be nice, but if they are anything like the 5/6 year olds who do it on parts of our estate, it isn’t lovely and joyful, it looks (obviously) like the scribbles of a 5/6 year old. It’s also not brilliant environmentally. I wouldn’t stop anyone doing it or wash it off, but if someone doesn’t want it outside their house, it doesn’t make them joyless. These are public property and I’d love to know at what point kids are old enough to understand you can’t just draw on public property.

I was called joyless because I stopped some kids climbing a tree outside my house. I have nothing against kids climbing proper trees, but this one is a flimsy piece of crap that is already at a 45 degree angle and part of their climbing it involves pulling it down so they can clamber on to it, and ripping off smaller branches to hit each other with. I also had an issue with kids playing football on a grass bit across from my house, despite there being a perfectly good, purpose built ball pitch for kids about 3 minutes away. Every day there were footballs flying into our front garden, hitting the cars etc, lads running about screaming at each other. We eventually had the factor put up some “no ball game” signs and were accused of being grumpy and not liking kids. On the contrary, now that the girls on the estate are back doing their gymnastics and TikTok dances on it, that brings me great joy. Not many places for them to do that round here.

Just because others don’t want to indulge your children, that doesn’t make them joyless.

The tree thing is awful.

It’s been proven that repeated physical contact to plants can stress them out. Not sure if it’s the same for trees.

AllTheChaos · 09/09/2025 13:21

JudgeBread · 09/09/2025 11:50

Some people are just joyless bastards OP.

Kids outside being artistic and enjoying the sunshine is a delight. The kids on my street have been decorating the pavement all summer. I paid them with ice lollies to do unicorns outside my house.

What a lovely idea! I will remember that next summer 😊 I love seeing children being creative and having fun, it makes me really happy

Whokilledrogerrabit · 09/09/2025 13:19

I actually don't think either of you are being unreasonable. A bit of chalk on the pavement is fine - as you said - it washes away.

Your neighbour doesn't want it right outside their house though, which is their prerogative. I don't see why they should keep it there if they don't want to (for any length of time).

I would have made it a non issue with your daughter and told her there's plenty of space elsewhere to draw.

BertSymptom · 09/09/2025 13:19

YANBU but I’m really not surprised some people have a problem with it.

Bet they’re the same people who moan about the kids of today always being on screens as well.

ThreenagerCentral · 09/09/2025 13:18

If grown men can spray paint red crosses on roundabouts, your children can chalk where they like.

usedtobeaylis · 09/09/2025 13:18

You'd need to an absolute misery to be bothered by children chalking on the pavement but an absolute dickhead to wash it off.

ClawedButler · 09/09/2025 13:18

BoredZelda · 09/09/2025 13:10

Can we stop calling anyone who doesn’t want to pander to children’s whims as joyless and grumpy. “It’s just kids playing” is a euphemism for “my kids can do whatever they like”. If a kid drew a lovely rainbow on the path outside my house, sure, it might be nice, but if they are anything like the 5/6 year olds who do it on parts of our estate, it isn’t lovely and joyful, it looks (obviously) like the scribbles of a 5/6 year old. It’s also not brilliant environmentally. I wouldn’t stop anyone doing it or wash it off, but if someone doesn’t want it outside their house, it doesn’t make them joyless. These are public property and I’d love to know at what point kids are old enough to understand you can’t just draw on public property.

I was called joyless because I stopped some kids climbing a tree outside my house. I have nothing against kids climbing proper trees, but this one is a flimsy piece of crap that is already at a 45 degree angle and part of their climbing it involves pulling it down so they can clamber on to it, and ripping off smaller branches to hit each other with. I also had an issue with kids playing football on a grass bit across from my house, despite there being a perfectly good, purpose built ball pitch for kids about 3 minutes away. Every day there were footballs flying into our front garden, hitting the cars etc, lads running about screaming at each other. We eventually had the factor put up some “no ball game” signs and were accused of being grumpy and not liking kids. On the contrary, now that the girls on the estate are back doing their gymnastics and TikTok dances on it, that brings me great joy. Not many places for them to do that round here.

Just because others don’t want to indulge your children, that doesn’t make them joyless.

To be fair....you do sound quite joyless.

Merryhobnobs · 09/09/2025 13:18

I think it's fine, but my mother in law and other relative complained to the police when children had done this next to a play park. Some people just see it as some sort of vandalism.

Faceonthewrongfoot · 09/09/2025 13:18

There's a hosepipe ban where we are - I'd have been tempted to report them for using it 😂

mamagogo1 · 09/09/2025 13:17

I love chalked drawings by my neighbours. Came back last month from a meal to celebrate my birthday and my neighbours kids had decorated my path for me, so lovely (I’d bumped into the elder one on my way out and she asked me why we were going out midweek!

Idstillratherbepaddleboarding · 09/09/2025 13:17

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godmum56 · 09/09/2025 13:16

I wouldn't hate it or even be bothered by it but if its a lot of chalk, I could see the potential for it to be trodden into the house or carried in on eg buggy wheels.

Foundress · 09/09/2025 13:16

CeciliaDuckiePond · 09/09/2025 12:56

The rainbow as a symbol has become politicised (LGBTQ associations, trans debate) - not looking here for an argument over whether it should be political, but dealing with the fact that some people will regard it as such. Obviously, the OP's DC was not making a political statement, but some people might not want a rainbow on the pavement outside their house because it's associated with a cause they might not support.

Yes this was my thought as well. It’s a shame that the innocent rainbow has become something that is disliked by some folks isn’t it? I don’t mind seeing chalk drawings on pavements. We used to do it ourselves as children over 50 years ago. We wouldn’t dare to have done it outside other peoples houses though😂. As a PP said also no one knows what other people are going through. I have mentioned this on a thread a while ago. During COVID when people were getting kids to paint pebbles someone left a painted pebble at my late DM’s front door. It had ‘Be Grateful’ painted on it. My mother had not long lost my father to cancer, she was vulnerable and isolated due the pandemic. She didn’t know who had left this pebble. She was incredibly upset and angered by something that would seem harmless and inconsequential to others.

Emilygilmoreshandbag · 09/09/2025 13:16

Fair enough to let your kids draw on the pavement. But it’s also ok for a neighbour not to want that outside their house, though I do agree somewhat curmudgeonly of them to wash it away then and there..
It’s really not a bad thing for a five year old to learn that not everyone adult is obliged to find what they do delightful, so no harm done I’d say.

Pricelessadvice · 09/09/2025 13:15

BoredZelda · 09/09/2025 13:10

Can we stop calling anyone who doesn’t want to pander to children’s whims as joyless and grumpy. “It’s just kids playing” is a euphemism for “my kids can do whatever they like”. If a kid drew a lovely rainbow on the path outside my house, sure, it might be nice, but if they are anything like the 5/6 year olds who do it on parts of our estate, it isn’t lovely and joyful, it looks (obviously) like the scribbles of a 5/6 year old. It’s also not brilliant environmentally. I wouldn’t stop anyone doing it or wash it off, but if someone doesn’t want it outside their house, it doesn’t make them joyless. These are public property and I’d love to know at what point kids are old enough to understand you can’t just draw on public property.

I was called joyless because I stopped some kids climbing a tree outside my house. I have nothing against kids climbing proper trees, but this one is a flimsy piece of crap that is already at a 45 degree angle and part of their climbing it involves pulling it down so they can clamber on to it, and ripping off smaller branches to hit each other with. I also had an issue with kids playing football on a grass bit across from my house, despite there being a perfectly good, purpose built ball pitch for kids about 3 minutes away. Every day there were footballs flying into our front garden, hitting the cars etc, lads running about screaming at each other. We eventually had the factor put up some “no ball game” signs and were accused of being grumpy and not liking kids. On the contrary, now that the girls on the estate are back doing their gymnastics and TikTok dances on it, that brings me great joy. Not many places for them to do that round here.

Just because others don’t want to indulge your children, that doesn’t make them joyless.

I’m so glad someone else thinks this!

It seems that if you don’t find everything children do sweet and endearing, you must be a sad, lonely monster.

I have zero interest in children. I don’t get any warm, fuzzy feelings seeing them playing out/chalking pavements.

FeministThrowingAPrincessParty · 09/09/2025 13:14

I think it’s lovely. So nice that the children are playing together outside.