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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Needy neighbour

80 replies

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 14:39

I'm retired, a widow and my DC are grown and flown the nest and I now live alone. My NDN is in exactly the same situation. Her DC and DGC live closer to here than mine do, she sees at least a couple of them every day without fail. Due to distance and schedule I see mine maybe a couple times a week, sometimes less. We do speak very often on the phone though.

I have all sorts of interests and hobbies that keep me busy, plus I like time on my own to MN just relax or read or just have a long soak in the bath. All the things I viewed as a luxury when my DH was alive and my DC at home. My neighbour on the other hand can't stand her own company and is becoming rather demanding. I pop in a couple of times a week or she pops in here. I help her out with odds and bobs and she really is a genuinely nice person.

My problem is, or AIBU in that she wants me to almost 'be on call'. She will phone and either invite herself here or almost demand I go there for tea and biccy's and a chat. I know she is lonely, she never goes far really. We live in a village with an unusually superb bus service into the nearest town and the nearest city. We also have a very good local taxi service baring in mind we are so rural.

I'm beginning to dread the phone ringing as I don't want to feel like I have to provide companionship when I've something planned or I'm busy but she is lovely and I do feel I'm being a bit unfair as I don't need to be entertained and she is lonely.

I would guess the longest she is alone is Monday-Friday 8am-6pm while her family and friends are out of the house working etc. That said, I know she has friends locally who do pop in during the day just not every day. She also has friends who go to see her in the evening as well as family members.

So, AIBU? WWYD?

Sorry for the essay I didn't want to drip feed.

OP posts:
DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 15:37

Shedmicehugh1 I wonder if we have the same neighbour. Grin She would do anything she could to help if I asked, like you, I don't ask.

OP posts:
UpstartCrow · 22/03/2018 15:39

Does she have a history of falling out with people? Or do people always seem to let her down?

Shedmicehugh1 · 22/03/2018 15:43

Grin Daisy and she already knows my replies....could you do x,y,z....knowing I will say sorry I’m busy, so she adds a when you have time!!

Or are you cooking tonight....probably, but not sure what time....ok just text me when I should come over!!!

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 15:44

UpstartCrow Not that I know off. I know she had a falling out with one of her DC recently, I heard it. Plus her family tell her she is never happy (she told me they said that). I must admit, the more she tried to reel me in the more I pull away. As Idontdowindows said, I don't want to be tied down to a schedule so I am feeling less and less inclined to visit at all.

I am very grateful for all the replies and rather pleased IANBU Grin

OP posts:
UpstartCrow · 22/03/2018 15:46

Oh yes, I'd pull away like mad especially after the 'are you avoiding me' comment. Honestly if I see people more than once a week I struggle for anything interesting to say to them.

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 15:49

UpstartCrow You've just made a really good point. Due to never going anywhere when we do see each other all she can talk about is what I'm doing. It's just occurred to me, while she really is lovely she is also bl**dy nosy. Hmmm... Yes, I definitely need to get the big girl pants on and sort this out for once and for all.

OP posts:
Goodasgoldilox · 22/03/2018 15:52

I think you just have to step back slowly.

Wait til she rings and asks - then tell her that you are busy at the moment (No need to explain. You can be busy looking out of the window it that is what you enjoy.) but that you could meet her at ... and give a date a few days (or even a week) away. Once this is settled, if she rings again - remind her that you are busy until the date/time arranged.
Do the same after the meeting - but try and push it back a bit futher.

This way you are always agreeing to meet - but you are starting to win back some of your free time.

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 15:56

Goodasgoldilox That could work while preserving good neighbourly relations. I may well give it a try and see where I get. Thank you.

OP posts:
buttfacedmiscreant · 22/03/2018 16:00

If she says "are you avoiding me" again, I think I'd say something like "no, but I am a bit of an introvert and need plenty of time alone so there are times I just don't answer the door/phone" or "no, but I have a lot going on right now and don't answer the door/phone when I'm in the middle of something"

I think I'd also find some book club/craft class sort of thing and ask her if she'd be willing to go with me and hope that she'd get into the class and get some socialising there and rely on me less.

ReanimatedSGB · 22/03/2018 16:02

She's not lovely, though. She's selfish, with the hide of a rhino, and thinks her wishes matter more than yours. Be smilingly firm and consistent 'Sorry, that's not convenient.' 'Sorry, I'm busy right now.' And stick to it. Don't answer the phone or the door if you don't want to. She is not your responsibility and, from what you have said, she has plenty of people to entertain her so it's fine for you to do what works for you.

Ryder63 · 22/03/2018 16:07

It sounds like she's living her life through yours (hence the nosiness). No effort on her part. Maybe her family have cottoned on to this!

You certainly shouldn't feel you are obliged to dance attendance on her, or pander to her neediness.

Dutchoma · 22/03/2018 16:10

I have several friends I see regularly and the thing we do is make the next ‘meeting date’ at the end of the current one. So ’see you next week’ or ‘next month’ or ‘on the 20th of the month after next’. Then it goes on the calendar and that is that. If she rings in between, you will be invariably busy, or on the point of going out (and that won’t be a lie), but you can remind her that you will see her on ‘Wednesday’ and are looking forward to it.

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 16:10

Thank you all so much, it's made me feel better to know I'm not just being selfish. In the near(ish) future I'm going to be having work done on the house and as we all know that is never quiet. I have told her about the work and apologised in advance for any noise/mess so I think I've been fair. She is a very quiet neighbour but then again so am I. I like that hence why I don't want to fall out with her. As we are both retired I think she thought it was all going to be wonderful (for her) and is quite disappointed I'm not the kind of person who wants to spend my days peering out the window gossiping about the neighbours.

OP posts:
HonkyWonkWoman · 22/03/2018 16:14

You say that she can't actually see if you are in the house or not but when you don't answer the phone she comes knocking on your door.
Why do you have to answer the door?
You could have many reasons to not be answering your phone or door.
You could be in the bath, listening to music or talking book with earphones in.
I would ignore her if she comes over and knocks on the door and if she mentions it, tell her you had earphones in.
But after saying that, someone demanding my attention who lived in such close proximity would drive me crazy and I would have to tell her that the constant ringing and popping round was too much. Once a week maybe ok!
If she can't accept that, then it is her problem.
She's not even a friend, just a neighbour. I would tell her that you don't even see you best friend every week.

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 16:17

HonkyWonkWoman Thank you. I don't always see my DC once a week, one DC I see about 8 times a year due to distance. I am going to tackle this, I don't want to not be able to answer the door or whatever, so am going to have to do something - and I will.

OP posts:
PoisonousSmurf · 22/03/2018 16:20

Go out for the day? But then what's the point of being retired. Your NDN would drive me back to going out to work lol!

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 16:24

PoisonousSmurf I do have days when I'm out all day other days I'm in and out during the day. Then I have days I'm home all day, it varies depending on what I'm doing. I don't have time to go to work Grin

OP posts:
Hypermice · 22/03/2018 16:29

"no, but I am a bit of an introvert and need plenty of time alone so there are times I just don't answer the door/phone"

I’d say this. Be honest, be straight with her, but lay that boundary down.

thecatsthecats · 22/03/2018 16:34

I have no issues saying 'no' firmly, but this isn't 'no', it's 'sometimes', and that's hard to communicate to people like this.

She's already taken offense at your refusal before, but I think offense is the hazard you have to risk for your freedom of mind. It wouldn't be the visits to me, but the feeling of being plagued in my private space.

I was hugely pissed off when my boss let his mum (an ex-employee) I was moving to the same area as her. She called me twice on moving day when I was sweating lumping boxes around. When I've seen her on the odd occasion since, she probably thinks I'm blunt and short with her, and I am - quite purposefully! She's an odious character and I don't want any remote neighbourly feelings (and now I've been promoted above said boss, I don't have to worry about his feelings either!).

Aurea · 22/03/2018 16:38

Start a course (you can do a short course online for free from FutureLearn) and then exaggerate the time involved for study. You may even enjoy it...

Chrys2017 · 22/03/2018 16:41

I have the same problem. Neighbour/friend keeps popping round, sometimes 5–6 times a week. My heart sinks when the doorbell rings and I have to hide. (I have missed quite a few deliveries as I've become paranoid about answering the door!) After a week or so of this, she will phone on the pretext of being concerned for my welfare (I live alone) and then will demand explanations of my whereabouts for all the non-answered calls. It's driving me mad, although she is a very kind and good person, I don't want to see her on a daily basis!

50ShadesOfEarlGrey · 22/03/2018 16:41

We need to go back to the days of always wearing a hat to go out. My grandmother always put a hat on to answer the door, then if it was someone she wanted to see she said she had ‘just got in’ and conversely if it was an unwelcome guest she was ‘ just on her way out’!

Remember, you don’t need to explain. Just say ‘No, that doesn’t work for me’. Or no, I can’t do that.

Take back the control. ‘I’m really busy next week, but we can catch up the week after, I will phone you when I have my diary.’

You will get back to enjoying her company again when there is less of it!

DaisyDrip · 22/03/2018 16:43

It's difficult isn't it? This street is very small, very quiet, almost all retired with a couple of single but out at work all day folk. I think there is one family with children. So due to the demographics my NDN has latched onto me. I bought the house from a single middle aged man who was out all day at work and I think when my NDN saw me she thought all her Christmas' had come at once. Sadly, I believe I've shattered the illusion of someone to sit and gossip with all day. I am going to put my foot down, I love my home, the area, the people, everything and I'm not going to allow anything to spoil my enjoyment of it.

OP posts:
CuboidalSlipshoddy · 22/03/2018 16:44

It's driving me mad, although she is a very kind and good person

No she isn't, because you're hiding from her. Why do people make excuses for their batshit neighbours like "she's very kind". It's like accounts of lunatic grandparents who demand their grandchildren be made available at all hours of the day and are defended as "being kind" or "enthusiastic" or "loving". If you're hiding from people, they are stalkers who, if they don't have the self-awareness to stop it, need to be told. They might be upset by this. Tough shit.

kimanda · 22/03/2018 16:48

@ReanimatedGB

She's not lovely, though. She's selfish, with the hide of a rhino, and thinks her wishes matter more than yours. Be smilingly firm and consistent 'Sorry, that's not convenient.' 'Sorry, I'm busy right now.' And stick to it. Don't answer the phone or the door if you don't want to. She is not your responsibility and, from what you have said, she has plenty of people to entertain her so it's fine for you to do what works for you.

This ^ And also many more posters here have put some great posts highlighting that this woman - and the friendship you have with her - is not good. It's toxic actually.

Yep I have to say YANBU. This woman sounds like a piece of work, and living next to her sounds like a nightmare.

This is the problem with becoming too friendly with neighbours, and people who are at home all the time can sometimes become insufferable. Some people are fine, like I am - and so are many people on this forum. I, (again like many people here,) enjoy my own company, and would find having to see a neighbour twice a DAY like a fucking prison sentence.

I don't see my family and friends even a TENTH of that amount. I see close family once a week, (and several others once a month! And these people live only half hour's drive away!) I see my 3 friends (all don't know each other and live 12-20 miles from me,) around once a month too. I can easily be on my own in the house for 8 hours a day for a month, and be happy with that. I cannot BEAR people popping round and hate entertaining people (except family obvs! I am happy for them to come round, but even THEY only come twice a month or so.)

I work from home, part time hours and DH works (30 miles away,) and is away Mon-Thur, (8am til 7pm,) and home Fri, Sat, and Sun, and I LOVE my 4 days to myself.

I have had people in houses we lived in before who felt the need to keep pestering me and keep on asking for favours and lifts, and kept knocking the door, and wanting to pop in for coffee and it drove me BATSHIT. I was glad to leave the area.

As I said, I don't like having people round, I don't like group meetings, or hobby groups, or social groups, and rarely mix with people. I used to, some years back, from childhood up to my early 40's in various activities involving my kids, neighbourhood activities, and was in couply relationships with DH and other couples vom , but most of them didn't end well or just burnt out. As I said, I now only have 3 friends who I see once a month or so, and my family who I see 1 to 2 times a month. (And adult children who I see once a week.)

I agree with the posters here who have said you already HAVE a problem in your relationship with this woman, so can things really be any worse? As I said though, this is the problem with being friendly with neighbours; it gets awkward if someone becomes too intense, or if you fall out.

Many of the stories of woe and doom and massive fall-outs on 'nightmare neighbour from hell; on tv, are about neighbours who hate each other, but were good friends (and very close) beforehand, for several years. It's rarely neighbours who had little to do with each other who fall out badly.

You need to stop answering the door @DaisyDrip Sorry, cannot say more than what others have said. Just start distancing yourself. I have had to do this to people who have been a nuisance. It's hard when they live closeby though I know.

Frankly, I would rather spend my life alone, than have someone constantly buzzing around me, making demands on me, coming round my house every day, and pestering me, expecting to be entertained, and boring me shitless with their inane drivel and fucking moaning!

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