Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

to think this child is too old to be exposing himself?

999 replies

JenniBoo · 05/08/2013 15:08

Bit of a back story... was delighted when a young family bought the house next door. After the previous elderly couple (who would complain about noise and balls going over the wall etc.,) I thought another young family would be a breath of fresh air and that their boys (8, 5 and 3) would play with my daughters (3yrs and 3 mths).

The first hint that they were not our sort of people became apparent almost immediately. They are both heavy smokers - they must smoke at least a pack a day - but instead of doing it in their house, they (and their friends) congregate on the porch- the smell wafts across into our garden and through the kitchen window. One day it was so bad, you could smell it in my baby's bedroom on the floor above! I asked them politely if they would mind smoking indoors or at the end of their garden - but they were completely unapologetic and said they couldn't do that because in the house if might affect THEIR children - and that at the end of the garden, they would get wet!

She seems to let her kids run wild - she is never in the garden with them, and the noise is something else. The other day I had to complain because they were throwing stones at each other - one flew across into our garden narrowly missing my baby, who was sleeping in the pram. I went across to complain but the mother couldn't have cared less. She lined them up and made them apologize, but she was all "boys will be boys" and you could tell she wasn't really sorry.

Today has been the final straw though. I came out to find both the younger boys exposing themselves to my older daughter. They had climbed onto their trampoline and were waving them at her. The older boy was there too, but was just laughing. I went round to the mother and told her. . The other mother told me I was "being stupid" and that "they are just little boys" and that I should "get over myself".

I don't think a 5 year old should be getting his willy out in public. Surely if he did that in the class at school he would be in huge trouble? Am I being unreasonable?

OP posts:
WestieMamma · 05/08/2013 20:02

Because I have nothing better to do, I've worked it out:

Height of tallest kids trampoline I could find on Amazon: 34"
Average height of a 5 year old male: 40"

Bit of maths jigery-pokery and voila, height of waggling willy: 4 ft

Chances of a 3 year old on the other side of a 5 ft fence seeing anything: 0

coldwater1 · 05/08/2013 20:03

This thread hasme in fits.... Is this what i have to look forward to when my two boys get bigger?! Pmsl i'm sure my 7 girls will be thrilled, their baby brothers already chase them naked through the house. Lol boys WILL be boys!!! Wink

WestieMamma · 05/08/2013 20:03

I so need a life.

libertine73 · 05/08/2013 20:06

OP, they are not nasty, if the behaviour you have described s all there is, there are normal little boys.

If I had been you, I would have said at the time...Put those away, we don't want to see them thankyou!

Instead you've made it seem like they're grubby flashers, they're not!

HepsibarCrinkletoes · 05/08/2013 20:09

Oh dear. Poor kid.

DS's favourite thing was charging around in his nothings waving his willy at his sisters. Funnily enough the girls are not scarred by this and DS is not a willy waver at 17. DD3 would rather be naked than wear clothes. Thankfully she's only 4 so there's no issue.

insanityscratching · 05/08/2013 20:10

coldwater your dd will perfect "the look" just as my dd did. She will also probably be very picky about boyfriends because the opposite sex are no mystery to her. Actually having three brothers has probably ensured dd is the strong independently minded person she has become tbh.

HepsibarCrinkletoes · 05/08/2013 20:10

height of waggling willy

Fucking howling at that!

OliviaIsOffTheGinMumsnet · 05/08/2013 20:15

Evening all

ThreeGoMad · 05/08/2013 20:18

I bet they're bringing your house value down as well, OP :(

SarahAndFuck · 05/08/2013 20:18

OP I hope you are having a laugh with this one, but just in case you are serious.

You, and your neighbours, have a right to quiet enjoyment of your own properties. The problems start because everyone has different ideas about what this means and nobody thinks they are as bad as next door.

You say that they smoke on the porch, which I'm assuming is at the front of the house, while the boys play unsupervised in the back.

And you are complaining that the smoke is coming in through your windows, including the bedroom where your baby sleeps.

They have every right to smoke on their property, but if they are doing it outside to protect their own children and prevent their own house from smelling smokey they should understand that you feel the same way about your children and your house.

If it's causing you to keep your windows closed all the time even in this hot weather (and if you are not exaggerating the problem) I don't think you were unreasonable to ask them to move further away because it is affecting your quiet enjoyment of your own home. If it was just that you could smell it in the garden I'd say you were being unreasonable but if it's coming in the house and forcing you to keep the windows closed then I think you do have more reason to speak to them about it.

As for the stone throwing, you are not being unreasonable to be concerned but as it was a one off I think you should let it go now. We lived next door to a family whose son would do this constantly. If he was in the garden and had something he could pick up and throw, it came over our fence.

Small stones, bigger rocks, bits of paving slab, toys, shoes, tools, pegs, small plant pots and garden ornaments. Anything he could get over the fence came over the fence. We spoke to his parents and they said they had spoken to him and could do no more. Even when something hit me and cut my shoulder open, they refused to do anything, implied it was my own fault for being in the garden while he was throwing things and accused us of wanting to force their children to stay inside all the time. Their solution was for us to not use the side of our garden closest to their house.

A one off stone being thrown over while the baby was in the garden would have worried me, especially as it was a near miss, but at least it was a one off and even though you didn't like the mother's apology, it hasn't happened again. So whatever she said has worked and hopefully will continue to work. I think you should be happy with that.

The willy waving. Have you considered shouting "willy willy willy" at them?

Sorry Grin I'm not subscribing to the boys will be boys thing, but they are little boys and it's amazing how much they pull at their bits. YABU to imply they are some sort of budding sex offenders because at this age it's still fairly normal behaviour. If it were the older boy you might have a reason to complain but even then, I don't think you'd got many people on here agreeing with your take on it, eight is still very young.

Take the advice you have been given. Put up a fence or a trellis with a climbing plant on it, or plant tall shrubbery and trees. Block the view of your garden from the trampoline.

I can understand your DD being wary of them if one of them has hit her in the face, and as a child I was really annoyed by the little girl next door, a year or so younger than me, constantly calling to me when I didn't want to play with her. But again, block the view a bit so they can't see her from the trampoline and hopefully they will stop calling at her when she plays outside.

YABU to complain that the boys are unsupervised while they play. That's one of the perks of having a garden and several children to entertain each other and that's how they chose to have quiet enjoyment of it.

YouTheCat · 05/08/2013 20:18

Evening, Ossifer. Grin

xigris · 05/08/2013 20:20

OP you really do need to lighten up. Have some Wine. These are children! What does your DP / DH make of this shocking willy waggling? I have 3 DSs and they're lovely boys but certainly not averse to a bit of shouty play in the garden and willy waggling. Personally, I think you're going to give your DD ishoos if you keep making such a giant fuss about everything. My niece is 7 and is very fond of a bit of naked trampolining with my equally naked boys. No complaints from anyone yet........There's loads more I could say but really, Pag has said it all! Grin

ll31 · 05/08/2013 20:20

Op now I'm sorry for your daughter, you seem so ridiculous in your attitudes towards the boys at first,and now with your infantile views on the nice school with people just like you..... Where no one will ever be mean or bullying etc... I think from what you say about your daughter you should spend next yr on developing her confidence and perhaps rid yourself of notion that only people like yourself are worth knowing.

Bunnygotwhacked · 05/08/2013 20:29

tbh i'm just place marking for the deletion message

IwishIwasmoreorganised · 05/08/2013 20:37

I don't see why this thread should be deleted.

OP has asked AIBU and we've all given responses why we think she is or isn't and some pretty good ways over overcoming her perceived problems - what's not to like?!

ouryve · 05/08/2013 20:38

Westie's maths should put this thread in classics, rather than it be deleted :o

ToysRLuv · 05/08/2013 20:39

On the issue of the smoking, I can see how it's annoying, but they are allowed to smoke in their own garden. How about buying an air purifier for your baby's room?

Throwing stones is not on, but the boys were told off, so unlikely to throw more (hopefully).

And the willy waggling..

I think I can see here how a repressed, body-conscious girl (or boy) could be made (and teenage pregnancies).

In 3 easy steps:

  1. Agree with the girl about how horrible and scary it is when little boys wave their willies at her in a non-sexual, humorous manner.
  1. Tell her the boys are awful and to not engage with them ever again.
  1. Put DD in a all girls school, away from the influence of disgusting little boys and their even more disgusting willies.

A willy is just a part of a body at that age. A funny one at that. Even if I would (should he ever want to do it) tell my DS (3) not to wave his willy outside his home/garden, or at someone if they then became upset (?), there's nothing inherently wrong with it. Willies are not disgusting and scary - certainly not those attached to little boys. Nothing to worry about at the ages you're talking about OP. DS has spent practically the whole summer starkers in the back garden going in and out of the paddling pool.

Why not laugh the willy waving off and ignore it? I think your reaction might have made your DD more "upset" than she needed to be, and the boys will stop if they don't get a reaction. Why not ask if the boys would like to come and play at your house, and get to know them? You're neighbours after all, and I do think that your DD would likely benefit from it..

RandallPinkFloyd · 05/08/2013 20:40

Thank you westie Grin

CorrineFoxworth · 05/08/2013 20:41

Actually, he only time DS has waggled his willy has been when he was in respite day care. He waggled it along with boys 5-10 years older and was involved in all four incidents of willy waggling hence he was considered to be the instigator and I had to spend several hours on the phone justifying why we should not be reported to social services, and what sort of inappropriate material did we have on display at home etc...

Eventually it was admitted that he was "probably" the victim Angry

I wish I lived in your innocent worlds, I really do.

acheekyvimto · 05/08/2013 20:42

Op this really is normal of boys. My ds is a ailly little thing. He like waggling his willy oe bum. He finds toilet humour funny and loves winding his sisters up. Perfectly normal behaviour that you are demonising as it doesn't fit in with your dd world.

HeadfirstForHalos · 05/08/2013 20:43

Is OP still clutching her pearls? Where the hell did standing at the window and pissing on her dd's head come from? Confused

No one has said it's not naughty behaviour, just that it's standard naughty behaviour for a 5 year old boy. Yes, the neighbour should talk to her son, but to be honest, with the OP's attitude on here, I'm imagining when she went around she didn't handle it very well! Especially if she used the words "exposing their penises", making them sound like fucking sexual deviants.

As for anyone referring to a toddler and reception aged child little shits, it is utterly disgusting to use that kind of language to describe a small child that doesn't know any better.

thisisyesterday · 05/08/2013 20:45

wow, i came on here expecting the child to be maybe 10 or something!

5??????

it's normal. really.
As the mother of 3 boys (youngest of whom is 4) I can honestly say to you that at that age they think that nothing is funnier than showing people their willy

conorsrockers · 05/08/2013 20:45

Kids : "Mum, we're bored ......"
Mum : "go wave your willies at the stuck up family next door .... that'll give her somefink to moan about"

Just me?...Grin

JenniBoo · 05/08/2013 20:47

Oblomov DH doesn't know about today's lastet instalment - he is away for work until late on Thursday, and as he is not in the UK, we usually keep our phone calls short - I think this can probably wait until he is back! Otherwise, he isn't terribly keen on our new neighbours.

Thanks Chesterberry I think you are right - I have never met any children who behaved like this before, but from the replies on here, it looks pretty common behaviour - so I suppose me appealling to the mother just isn't going to work :( It has certainly given me food for thought.

I haven't really spoken to anyone else today about the wiilly stuff -but I have told quite a few friends and family about them throwing the stone at my baby and unviersally everyone was HORRIFIED... so it's a bit of shock that people here feel they are normal boys, and not "little shits"

OP posts:
HeadfirstForHalos · 05/08/2013 20:47

And if a 3 year old girl was genuinely distressed at seeing a silly little boy waggling his willy (specifically being upset at seeing a willy) then she must have had some bloody weird and unhealthy ideas put into her head.

My girls would have either laughed, looked confused or ignored them at that age. these days they would definitely just laugh