...to think this woman is being unbelievably precious about her grass?

[Jaylabelle]

Bought my ds a rather expensive football for his birthday - it was his main present. On Friday he and his friends were kicking it about as they walked home from school. They walk along a winding road with lots of big houses with big gardens, and they accidentally kicked it someone’s garden.

He rang the doorbell, but no-one answered, so we went round this morning to ask for it back.

A woman answered the door, we asked her, and she said she had seen the football at the end of the garden, but she couldn’t get it back as they’ve just had their lawn relaid and can’t walk on it for 3 weeks!?!

Is it just me who thinks she’s being incredibly precious over some grass? I can’t believe we’re going to have to wait 3 weeks to get back Ds’s football - he’s so upset. Her walking quickly to get it wouldn’t do any harm. I offered to send ds as he’s very small and light but she refused to let him.

It’s not really hard to understand. Some people take great pride in their gardens, others their cars or homes or vegetable patch or appearance or art or volunteering or whatever. It’s their thing.

As a Mum of three football mad ds’s ;all young adults now, I think you were mad as hell to let him kick an expensive ball home from school .

Anyway he’s stuck without it now, I get your annoyance ,can you get it back undercover of darkness? . —joking—

As an aside I can’t do strikethrough anymore on my phone

‘Precious’ would be saying ‘No, I’ve just finished mowing my lawn into perfect alternate stripes and I don’t want to upset the nap by walking on it.’

Not at all unreasonable for her to refuse to walk on an expensively laid new lawn for such a trivial reason - and she didn’t refuse at all, just not right away.

He was careless so he will have to wait 3 weeks. Tough.

@Sparklingbrook we bought our new house because there wasn’t any grass I’m all for a low maintenance garden for us.
Mum had green fingers, she was fab but went for a meadow type garden, which looked very random but was carefully organised and cared for.

I guess we all have our “thing”

So it's a big garden - they would have paid a fair whack to have that turfed. She's been told not to walk on it by the landscapers so why should she risk spoiling it when it won't do your son any harm to have to wait for his ball, regardless of what the ball cost.

What oohmavis said! Haha

How expensive was the ⚽️? That it was his main 🎁? A ball is a ball.

A ball is a ball

That's what i thought until I had two footballing sons. They come in all different sizes too.

Slightly worried now as we have a new lawn and were only told to stay off it for a week. We have been out in the garden today with the paddling pool and it’s only been down nine days. It looks fine but I’m worried I have done some irreparable damage now...

If I found out my son had been kicking a ball around along a road he wouldn't have a ball anyway.

If it's being kicked hard enough or out of control enough to go into someone's garden, it could easily have gone the other way and caused a serious accident. Not acceptable at all.

You should teach your son to take better care of his belongings. If someone kicked a ball into my garden I would have just chucked it in the bin.

Her garden, her rules. Doesn’t matter if she’s mad as a box of frogs but your son kicked his ball onto her property, then she doesn’t have to give it back full stop

£115 football!!!

I am assured by DP (I only watch football I don’t play) that this is “the” ball!

YABU

Why did he take an expensive item to school?

Why was he playing football walking along the road?

He will learn from this and not be so silly again hopefully.

It is recommended you don’t walk on new laid turf.

If she paid to have it laid professionally as well as the cost of the actual turf it probably cost more than your football.

I don’t blame her for wanting to give her lawn the best possible start if she has just spent hundreds of pounds having it laid.

So, no, she is not being precious at all.

If she's choosing to take the advice to not walk on it to the letter then that's fair enough I think.

Some might think that's ott but a new lawn isn't cheap and she's not risking it. Can't say I would for a football either.

She hasn't refused. He just has to wait. Really can't see the issue with that.

She’s in the right, YABU.

I'd not have risked walking on it either, but I'd have had a go with a broom or similar to hook it off, or made the offer to retrieve it once the lawn had settled for you to collect at a later date.

How expensive can a football be? And was it your ds who kicked the ball in the woman's garden accidentally - or one of his mates doing it on purpose for a laugh?

I posted a link up thread to a £115 one yamadori

YABU. Use the three weeks to teach your son about football safety and respect for other people's property.

You can walk on the new turfs by using planks laid acros the top....is that an option? Sounds like a lot of effort tbh!

yabu. I hope you've told him it's not ok to kick a ball along a street. It's lucky it went into a garden and not a car. Wait 3 weeks, tell him not to do it again.