To think having blinds shut all day is weird?

[hmmmmm]

Neighbour has 2 small dcs. Her roller blinds are shut all the time. Never seen them open.

I know it sounds like I'm going out of my way to look but I'm not. I only notice when passing during the day.

Is this usual? Even in summer? I know it's winter now but it's always been the case since they moved in last year. I've seen the dcs outside so they're ok with daylight.

She's quite shouty and the 5 year old is often crying. I suppose this worries me more tbh. When mine were 5 they rarely cried. I don't think the 5 year old has sn as I've met her a few times. Always seems grateful for attention.

The mother is nice enough and her dsis is there a lot as neither go out to work. So am glad she has support.

I sound like a nosey neighbour but it's just something that niggles me. The blinds always shut.

We put up a blackout blind all Spring/Summer in the DC room. It sticks on with suction cups so is too much of a pain to take off and on. Better than being woken up at 3am by a small child who thinks it's morning.

I tend to keep my venetian blinds shut because of light reflecting off cars and windows opposite - it's generally unpleasant and has been known to trigger a migraine which I can do without.

Lots of reasons why people might keep blinds or curtains closed.

Probably she knows you'd be gawking in her window if she opened them. It's clear you have an unhealthy interest in her.

My druggie neighbours have their blinds and curtains closed every day 24/7, it just looks like a doss house.

My living room window is directly onto a walkway and people really do gawp in, so they are never fully up.

Same for the bedrooms, the DC's room has a venetian blind though so I open it tilted so a little light can come in but no gawping.

All blinds closed all day, every day is odd IMO.

I'm sometimes late in opening ours...like today. We're all exhausted after a very full on day (all day) yesterday. We've all stumbled downstairs at 8 and are still in PJ's. I haven't been back upstairs to open them and I've purposely kept downstairs closed because it's really bright today and I'm just not up for it yet

My next door neighbours blinds are always shut. Never really paid much attention though. It's not a big deal.

When my blinds were closed it was when I was really depressed and my house was a tip. I didn’t want people looking in and seeing the mess. Also, if people knocked the door they couldn’t tell if I was in when the blinds were closed so I could hide. If I could keep the DC quiet. I was also behind on some bills and would hide from debt collectors.

I understand with blinds as if they are
open people can see right in.
That's why I'm a Nets and curtains person. The nets stop people having a clear view in. So my curtains are open during the day. The only time they are closed is if the sun is shining in.
But I don't like them being closed in the day.

Maybe she just doesn’t want nosey neighbours looking in? I mean if you've come on mumsnet to say oh her blinds are always closed she obviously lives near a at least one nosey bugger doesn’t she?

So what? I think it's no-one else's business but theirs! Unless you have some other reason to suppose she is depressed or the children are not well cared for.

I'd hate to think of a neighbour being interested in whether we have our blinds/curtains open or shut.

Surely it's normal to have closed blinds or net curtains on the front windows, if you live in an ordinary house facing a street, as otherwise passers-by can see in? I think Venetian blinds are nicer as they let some daylight in while still giving privacy, but roller blinds are cheap and low-maintenance so I can see why people might.

I think that your concerns for the wellbeing of the 5year old are paramount and lots of posters are all too quick to talk over what you are really referring to. What age are your (if any) children OP? Could you organise a play date for the 5 year old with your own DC? Does the 5 yo go to school? It might take a long time for things to add up, but I think that your concerns are reasonable. It takes a village to raise a child....

I have nets, but close my front curtains sometimes on a very sunny day, as the light streams through the bay window, and can really dazzle you. Mabey she likes it that way, mabey she is a private person. My dh used to like curtains closed, I could not stand it, and used to open them again. He's given up closing them now .

Lots of people use blinds instead of nets to stop people looking in.
Some people don’t like being on display in their own homes

I gave a colleague a lift to work for 2 years, the curtains/blinds were never drawn and I never gave it a second thought. One morning, in a total emergency I went to the door and asked to use the toilet- inside the house was floor to roof clutter and hoarding. It was a really sad sight and embarassing for both of us. I genuinely never suspected this at all.

What culture, OP? My neighbour from an African country whose name I can’t remember always keeps hers shut. I assumed it was a habit from keeping out strong sun.

However that is not the issue, what is it that you are concerned about! Her shouting, and the child crying. That could easily be my house over the Summer holidays, my dd 10 has ASD and learning difficulties, and my ds 5 and pushes buttons and boundaries often. Like emptying pasta all over my floor and laughing. Or winding is sister up and causing her a meltdown. That behaviour in itself, I don't think its concerning, or most parents would be reported to SS.

They were a married couple (in their 30s), no kids though.

Sometimes I have to really raise my voice to lion mode, to get ds to respond and to see what he has done wrong. Everything is a joke and funny. Sometimes he does unsafe things, like plugs random electrical items I thought I have hidden into plug sockets, which are dangerous. Or think its funny to get lost at the shops.

We always stay at the back of the house where the kitchen, back room and conservatory are. We never sit in the front room so our blinds in that room are always shut. Stop being nosey. And my 5 year old still cries when he gets frustrated, tired or hungry so well done for raising perfect children who don’t ever cry .

Oh and I have to shout too sometimes when asking my kids to do something for the 10 millionth time, like getting dressed, finding shoes, finding coats etc. You actually deserve an award for being so perfect. I’m in awe of you opening blinds and having children you don’t shout at or who cry. Can I be your best friend? 🤥🤥🙄

My parents do this - they have massive windows at the front of their house, so because of a combination of privacy, to stop heat escaping(winter) or overheating (summer) and by the afternoon to stop the sun shining straight in and blinding them, they keep the curtains (blinds when I was a kid) closed.

My other half would happily leave blinds shut the whole time too - nothing nefarious, just doesn't need to see out.

She isn't a hoarder or untidy afaik? It must just be the way som people live. I've just never come across it with all my friends and family.