Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To find pavement chalking by neighbour unreasonable?

414 replies

Hanji83 · 19/08/2026 20:29

We are in a row of houses which have a footpath running in front of the road with a grassed area either side. One of the neighbours has two kids, who for the past week have been drawing on the pavement using chalk. It looks an utter mess. Would it be wrong of me to say something to the parents?

OP posts:
Missey85 · 22/08/2026 07:53

FudgeFudy · 21/08/2026 10:33

Yep. If chalked pavements are a good way of preventing prissy joyless miseryguts from moving in nearby then I might start doing it myself.

Show quote history

I think I need to go buy some chalk 😂 I live in a pretty wanky neighbourhood time to draw some dicks on the pavement 🤣

Missey85 · 22/08/2026 07:50

Jllllllll · 21/08/2026 15:02

Yes o agree. Definitely complain to their parents and ensure they are given a gaming device/ipad immediately to occupy themselves instead 🙄

And then it's the teachers fault when the little darlings can't read or write 😂

LBFseBrom · 22/08/2026 07:45

Activelife · 21/08/2026 14:46

Still not a crime to be a kid.

Show quote history

Of course it is no crime to be a kid, nobody said it was. Being a child is a time to have fun with few or no responsibilities. Mine looks back and says childhood was the best time.

I don't think children playing out in the street is very pleasant. The pavements are for walking. I do understand there are problems if people live in flats without a play area or a nearby park but for those with their own back gardens, the children can play there. That's what I and my friends always did and when I became a parent, mine did - had a great time too in good weather.

Payitforward55 · 21/08/2026 22:36

I do know what you mean OP. As a kid I loved a game we played where we would draw arrows to show were we were hiding but do some decoy arrows to knock people off anyway I digress.. but I knew not to scrawl messy drawings all over the street as it looks awful. Kids near me have done it and its there ages due to the dry weather. I would pick your battles on this but I fear you have neighbours / kids with no boundaries so if its anything like where I live prepare for the football and kids not giving a sh*! what they break or damage.

JudgeJ · 21/08/2026 17:20

Jllllllll · 21/08/2026 15:02

Yes o agree. Definitely complain to their parents and ensure they are given a gaming device/ipad immediately to occupy themselves instead 🙄

And also remember to report it to the school when they go back, they are the ones to sort out all the problems, according to MN, they have nothing else to do.

Jllllllll · 21/08/2026 15:02

Yes o agree. Definitely complain to their parents and ensure they are given a gaming device/ipad immediately to occupy themselves instead 🙄

Activelife · 21/08/2026 14:46

LBFseBrom · 21/08/2026 13:33

They can do that in their back gardens if they have one, and be more inventive. The children who lived along by me, and mine, played some wonderful games and had real adventured in their gardens.

Show quote history

Still not a crime to be a kid.

LBFseBrom · 21/08/2026 13:33

Activelife · 20/08/2026 18:33

Kids being kids, kids playing outside making their own games, what crime it is.

They can do that in their back gardens if they have one, and be more inventive. The children who lived along by me, and mine, played some wonderful games and had real adventured in their gardens.

gamerchick · 21/08/2026 11:58

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 11:51

Lucky I don't care what stranger's on the internet think of me 😂

Show quote history

That's the spirit Grin

LBFseBrom · 21/08/2026 11:55

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 11:51

Lucky I don't care what stranger's on the internet think of me 😂

Show quote history

"Stranger's" what?

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 11:51

gamerchick · 21/08/2026 11:47

Not a wise slur against women to use on here dude.

Show quote history

Lucky I don't care what stranger's on the internet think of me 😂

gamerchick · 21/08/2026 11:47

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 10:17

I would have painted a permanent one just to bother the Karen some more Jesus who does that to a little kid?

Show quote history

Not a wise slur against women to use on here dude.

FudgeFudy · 21/08/2026 10:33

PurpleThistle7 · 21/08/2026 07:00

Huh? One of the reasons we bought our house is because we saw children playing outside. My kids are in and out all the time - there are a handful of children in the houses around us and they all run around outside. It’s lovely.

Show quote history

Yep. If chalked pavements are a good way of preventing prissy joyless miseryguts from moving in nearby then I might start doing it myself.

user1470508354 · 21/08/2026 10:30

Totally unreasonable. It's chalk. When it rains next it'll wash away 🙄

Thirteenblackcats · 21/08/2026 10:21

What a miser

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 10:20

Activelife · 20/08/2026 18:33

Kids being kids, kids playing outside making their own games, what crime it is.

Maybe OP would rather they be playing with machetes instead 😊

AgentPidge · 21/08/2026 10:17

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 10:14

Found the neighbourhood Karen 😂😂😂 their enjoying themselves and not bothering you so what's your problem? Do you just hate fun?

Yeah, let's not perpetuate the use of that misogynistic slur on here, eh? It's just a way of telling women to shut up. She's allowed her POV, and she's conceded that she overreacted.

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 10:17

mussymummy · 20/08/2026 19:37

Please dont be that person. During covid my 5 year old chalked hopscotch outside our house and our next door neighbour got her hose out and washed it away 10 minutes later. Petty nasty behaviour

I would have painted a permanent one just to bother the Karen some more Jesus who does that to a little kid?

Missey85 · 21/08/2026 10:14

Found the neighbourhood Karen 😂😂😂 their enjoying themselves and not bothering you so what's your problem? Do you just hate fun?

Mollymaid64 · 21/08/2026 10:08

I think the op conceded defeat a few pages back so I don't know why people are still piling onto her with nasty comments 🙄

AmyDudley · 21/08/2026 09:42

My neighbours little girls do this, one of them had written 'our house' on the pavement outside my house and an arrow towards their house. I thought it was hilarious.

If I see them drawing I make requests, so far I've had a giant cat, a rocket, and an ice cream. The rain washes it away, they are having harmless fun, why would anyone want to be a party pooper over a few chalk drawings ?

pearpudding · 21/08/2026 09:12

Chalk is a gateway drug to hopscotch.

Best nip it in the bud, OP before all hell breaks loose.

FancyLilacHare · 21/08/2026 09:09

LOL.

Is this real?

If so, nutter.

Flamingojune · 21/08/2026 08:11

HollyIvy89 · 19/08/2026 22:17

I just got my hose out and washed away the bit in front of my house. I hate chalk. I think it’s rude.

You don't own the bit in front of your house

NotMeAtAll · 21/08/2026 08:07

Is "looking a mess" bad?

Swipe left for the next trending thread