Kids climbing into garden

[Snoreborewhoreee]

My next door neighbours have a son and nephew aged between 10-13 who play football in between our two houses which is fine but the ball constantly goes into our garden or into our (crumbling) shed.. I know kids are kids and this can't be helped so I always pass it back to them if they knock the door and we're in but I've noticed a few times that balls are in are garden in the morning or they've asked for them as I've just left the house and when I get back they have disappeared later that afternoon and they are playing with them again.. There's no gates into the garden so I'm assuming they have climbed over the wall.. AIBU to be annoyed by this??

I have asked them not to but don't particularly want to ask their parents as we don't get along at best of times

(And the side where they would be climbing over from is full of junk where they could get hurt and no doubt it would be our fault!)

As the mother of a child who plays kick about football for several hours of every day with his mates, on top of 4.5 hours of training a week and a match most weeks too... unless there is an actual tornado or he has a broken limb... YANBU.

I must say I am glad there is enough green space near us for this not to be an issue and do think it must be bloody hard to parent when you live in a very densely populated urban area where kids don't have much outdoor space and you have to be so careful about neighbours...

However it is very clearly unacceptable to trespass.

Do not get sucked into vindictive people telling you to stoop below the level of the children and damage their property in some kind of spiteful bit of tit for tat behaviour!

Obviously the logical and common sense thing would be to talk to them directly and then after one waring their parents, explaining exactly what you have written - you sound so tolerant and your emphasis on the dangers to the children is a very strong point.

It makes it very hard if you don't get on with neighbors. I wonder if this is something a community police officer could help with... Could you ask advice from the local community policing team about dealing with child trespassers emphasising your concerns for their safety as well as your property?

Supersoaker

Or electric fence.

The teenager next door used to whack tennis balls into my garden- they'd crash into the conservatory roof or, in one case, nearly hit my then 12 month old dd who was sitting in the garden. His parents wouldn't turn the tennis net round as the balls might then hit their window (but it was fine to hit mine though). I started collecting the balls up and hiding them so he couldn't find them when he climbed over. So, if you never leave them lying around in the garden for him to collect he will quickly find somewhere else to play.

Yanbu. The family second nextdoor to me are always playing football in their front garden, in the direction that the ball is constantly going into our mutual neighbour's garden. She's an elderly woman and her garden, while easy maintenance is so well cared for and full of mature ornamental trees that would have taken over a decade to get looking as lovely as they do. And this family, who are lovely in many ways, just don't give a damn and are constantly kicking the ball in and clambering over the wall, all over her lovely trees. (And the dad is the worst culprit.)

It makes me very uncomfortable when DS plays with the boys in their garden. As I really don't want him to develop that kind of lack of respect for other's property or the sense of entitlement that his fun is worth more than someone else's privacy and belongings. It's understandable that kids will kick their ball into a nearby garden by accident sometimes. But this really does happen every 2-3 minutes when they play ball and it's all because they don't care enough to adjust their game slightly.

I know it's frowned on by MN Jury, but I'd be tempted to do something quite PA, like knocking on next doors door to say you're very worried because you put a harsh weedkiller down and the ball might have been covered in it and it's poison.

There'll be lots of messages after this saying why this is a bad idea and offering better and more assertive solutions!

Put a decorative trellis up. One that is thin and tall so they can't...if they do it will break.

Anti-climb paint is a little miracle in a tin.

I dunno, it wouldn't bother me.

I bet kids won't care about weed killer. I think you'll have to physically stop them if you don't want them in your garden.