Neighbours kids keep looking over our fence

Higher fence....

Good time to start 😄. If anything, I'm sure it'll be amusing for both parties.

I don't think the parenting 'tips' suggesting soaking the child with a hose pipe,exposing yourself to her or sitting staring at her are the right sort of 'tips'

As someone who grew up in a different country, I find threads like this endlessly fascinating as an insight into cultural differences, and I mean that without any judgement.

It’s interesting to see adults tying themselves in knots over how to handle a slightly annoying child next door. In my Eastern European country, you’d usually either sigh inwardly and ignore it, or just speak to the child directly.

When I was a kid(things might have changed now, so I am not sure), it was completely normal and accepted that other adults might tell us off if we were being a nuisance to them or in general - sometimes kindly, sometimes less so - and it wasn’t seen as a big deal. Parents were brought in as a last resort.

OMG you're all such a joyless lot. She's only a kid.

Dress up as a ghost/monster, jump out the back door with a big scream and frighten her off forever. 😊

Some ludicrous comments on here, making excuses for this girl. She knows what she's doing, and the parents don't care. Got a few like this in my road, and parents who DGAF.

I have children - now adults - and do not dislike children - in general, but I would not tolerate this. It's bad behaviour from the child, and she is not 'just curious' ... She knows she is being a little shit, and is annoying her neighbour... She does not care....

And it is shitty parenting... Telling the parents is not going to do anything. They know she's doing it. How can they not? They do not care. As long as she is not bothering them.

A carefully aimed jet of water from the hosepipe will do it. One blast at her over the fence, and she'll soon stop. No namby pamby shite like soft soaping the girl or 'reasoning' with the parents, or buying fecking Easter eggs! 🙄

Whoosh goes that water jet.

DO IT @lilybit2025 Let us know how you get on.

Find a male acquaintance who would be willing to sunbathe starkers in your garden, the parents would soon stop her annoying habit!

I love children. But they do need boundaries.

Probably to start yet another 'I hate kids' threads.

There's a lot of them about.

Well I'm not you, so my parents clearly got something right.

Still baffles me how anyone who isn't particularly fond of children decided to log into mumsnet.

It “baffles” you? Does it really?

OP has an issue with a child and needs to address it with the parents. A parenting forum actually feels like a really sensible place to ask for tips.

OMG, I am struggling to believe that so many Mumsnetters are siding with the OP, and not the child. The child is apparently a little girl of approximately 5 or 6 years old, and all she is doing is looking over her fence, and watching the dog, and the OP too when she is out there as well.

The little girl is not constantly kicking a ball against a wall, or the fence, neither is she running around her garden screaming, so I genuinely don't know what your problem is @lilybit2025?

How about - as you are supposed to be the adult in this scenario - you either train your dog to not bark at the little girl, or you put your dog back indoors when she comes out? Even better, how about taking your dog for a nice walk, where it can use up some of it's boredom by having lots of great new smells to entertain and stimulate it.

The overall picture I have in my mind is: two adjoining gardens, one where a dog is left out in it so that it's boredom doesn't annoy it's grumpy owner, and the other garden where a perhaps - not coping too well with life at the moment - mum, lets her young child outside, in a safe place, but on her own, for too long a time, which will obviously have a negative effect on the little girl, maybe of boredom, and/or loneliness, but hopefully not as severe as neglect?

In your place OP, I would have chatted to the sweet little girl, and told my dog to stop barking, and then I would have tried to get the dog and the little girl to interact together! Oh, and there is no way that a five year old's behaviour at just looking over her garden fence is in anyway rude. I think that the OP is the one being rude here...

The dog is in his own garden. It’s only a problem that the girl keeps deliberately peering in; actually climbing onto furniture to do so. Stop her doing that and THEN it’s problem solved.

You remind me of those burglars who try to sue because the homeowner caught them at it and smashed a vase over their head.

I can't believe how so many of you are thinking it's fine. Ridiculous.

Just let the dog bark, no big deal.

Speak for yourself. Not everyone was allowed to “happily drive their neighbours up the wall”.
You just weren’t parented well, but you probably don’t realise that.

Great, perhaps one of them will make a complaint about the OP and her dog. I can almost guarantee the council won't accept 'but it's actually the fault of a five year old' as an excuse.

Really. The child is 5.

Well it's annoying the dog, so that's a good enough reason. The barking dog will annoy other people.

The dad will probably start looking in too.

Why should the OP get a bigger fence. The child needs to learn

I couldn't get excited about this, she's just a curious child. It isn't modern parenting either- if anything we had more freedom in the past and happily drove our neighbours up the wall.

If it bothers you, speak to the parents. Like all neighbour irritations, be prepared for them to bring up whatever you do that is annoying in return (and bear in mind that frequent dog barking is a potential noise nuisance, whilst children playing is generally classed as normal noise, whether MN likes that or not.)

You sound like a joy

I’m sure it’s irritating but she is 5. Talk to her simply and directly, passive aggressive social shaming is unlikely to work.
If that doesn’t work then talk to her parents, pleasantly but clearly.
Don’t spray her with water when she is in her own garden, you are just going to start a feud with your neighbors, likewise spiky plants are going to do anything because it doesn’t sound as though she is coming into your garden.

I'm lucky to have nice neighbours too - I always make sure to take an easter egg at easter and a selection box at christmas for the kids - it's a very small gesture which helps oil the wheels of neighbourlyness - some of these mumsnetters wouldn't give their neighbour as much as a mince pie christmas morning lol!