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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not want to take neighbours dd to and from school every day ??

43 replies

NuttyMuffins · 07/06/2007 10:37

Ok so it is complicated.

Next door but one lives a girl who is in dd1's class. She is the daughter of the lady who was recently sectioned for the 2nd time. She is 9.

When the mum went into hospital last time, the girls dad was working, and so i offered to take the girl to and from school so that he could continue to work, but they chose to practically ignore my offer and got family members to drive quite far each morning to do the job instead.

Now this time, the mum is in hospital but the dad is no longer working so is available to do the school run. I did still offer to help in any way ie school run if it clashed with visiting times etc, but it doesn't clash and so it wasn't a problem.

Last week this dad gets given a car and starts using it for school run. However his dd does not want to go in the car and so now every morning she knocks our door and asks if she can walk with us. When i collect my kids in the afternoon her dad goes to collect her in the car, she tells him she isn't going in the car and asks again if she can walk with us, i say yes cos i can't really say anything else, and so he gets her bags and goes off in the car.

The main reason I am getting annoyed with this is because the girl isn't very well behaved at all. I know she has been through alot recently, but I have known her since she was 4 and she has always been the same, she is spoilt and her mum and dad are too scared to stand up to her and say NO.
She regularly picks on my dd2 and has been in trouble for telling my ds to say innapropriate things to me and other people. She also talks to her dad in the most disrespectful way I have ever heard from a child.

As i said, if her dad was working and not there for the school run then I really wouldn't mind, but he is there to do it, and just doesn't want to say No we are going in the car, or walk with her himself. If his wife knew he was doing this she would be so upset as she always says he doesn't do enough with the dd and that he is unreliable.

Yesterday at pick up time he said 'can * walk with you then cos she doesn't want to go in the car'. I had already promised my kids an icelolly from the shop as they had been good, and i couldn't afford to buy her one aswell, and so said 'sorry i am going to the shop', and he said 'thats ok she can go too', so in the end i said 'no sorry i am not going straight home after'. Eventually he said right ok but she started to have a paddy about it, and so he asked someone else who lives on our street if she could walk with them.

This morning, we were running late and she knocks the door asking if she can walk with us. I couldn't find the front door keys and so dd told her through the letter box that we were not ready and to carry on with her dad.
She said no he is going in the car i will wait. I went to the door and said we were not ready and didn't know how long we'd be so she'd have to carry on and eveentually she went and i saw her walk down the road with her dad.

10 min later we have found the keys and off we go. We get round the corner and there is her and her dad. She said 'oh i told him we had to wait or i wasn't going'. He then says, 'oh i'll leave her with you then' and walks off back home.

I just cannot see why he cannot stand up to her and tell her that this is how it is, she is going in the car and thats that. Either that or walk with her himself.

I know i probably am being a bit unreasonable, but I have trouble enough keeping track of my own 3 to and from school some days, nevermind an unruly extra.

OP posts:
compo · 07/06/2007 10:59

I would say to him that you are having trouble keeping an eye on four children every school run and could he walk with you

NuttyMuffins · 07/06/2007 11:00

Thanks all, will see what happens this afternoon, and try and think of something to say.

OP posts:
SSSandy2 · 07/06/2007 11:02

If you are a SAHM, could you invite him round for a coffee tomorrow morning? Don't let it drag on - you have to go to the dentist or something afterwards. Go to a bit of an effort, bake some biscuits or something. Chat about his wife and so on. He can't think badly of you for it.

But then be to the point and clear: Tell him you're having a problem with his dd. Unfortunately although you'd love to help now and again if you can, your dc are not happy about walking to school with her and you feel it isn't working out. So you hope he'll understand and not feel offended by it but in future you won't be taking her with you on the way to school and back. I wouldn't tell him he should force her to go by car or walk with her. That's his problem. He just has to know you aren't doing it.

You could continue to show support for the family by maybe taking round a meal now and again whilst the dm is in hospital? I don't see how they could think badly of you for that.

Mrscarrot · 07/06/2007 11:08

it's not helping because they need help now though, is it? The Dad is available to take her and the child is refusing to go with him.

YANBU

I hate regular arrangements, they're so binding and it's intrusive. Some people on our road used to wait for us every morning and I just didn't want to make small talk, so I'd wait until they'd gone, or go earlier. It sounds mean but I can barely talk to my own family in the morning let alone another child and possible their parent EVERY day. I'm friends with our neighbours but we just doff our caps and go.

Sounds like she's had a hard time but if she won't behave then it doesn't inspire you to concede does it?

I would think about leaving earlier some days, and maybe be firm other days, say, 'No, your Dad has come to collect you, go with him'

NuttyMuffins · 07/06/2007 11:10

Sandy - I honestly cannot afford to take meals around for him, and plus he takes his dd to Macdonalds or fish and chips every night because she doesn't want the food he offeres her at home.

Also, i regularly ask after his wife and all he ever says is 'she is fine'. Last week another friend invited him round for a cuppa and he said 'no thankyou'.

OP posts:
SSSandy2 · 07/06/2007 11:13

I see NM. Think you just need to call him then briefly and make it clear without telling him what he should do. Good luck. Hate those situations myself

LIZS · 07/06/2007 11:13

Can you tell him you are sorry but with 3 kids of your own you are finding her difficult to cope with as well and worry about their safety. Although he is still welcome to accompany you on foot with her.

bosscat · 07/06/2007 11:13

oh I see, hmmmm. Well its going to be a case of biting the bullet and saying no to her directly and then him isn't it. Awkward situation I agree. I try and not get into regular arrangements, I can't even cope with signing up for gym class or whatever because I'm such a flibberty gibbett and change my mind all the time about what to do etc. Its a standing joke. I remember ages ago a friend asked me if I could have her child one day a week. This is brilliant. both our sons were in nursery 3 days a week when we worked and we both had 2 days off. She decided that 2 days was all hers could cope with as it wasn't good for his development and asked me if I could have hers and change my work days round! So I would be sitting at home child minding her son whilst mine was in nursery obviously being developmentally scarred ??? Talk about taking the p~~s. I said no bugger off. Think that's what you're going to have to do.

lizziemun · 07/06/2007 11:17

Perhaps you and your children should get a lift in his car as he is going your way and let her walk home.

HonoriaGlossop · 07/06/2007 11:35

I'd tell him "I'm still happy to help if you can't do the school run but if you're doing it, can you make sure your dd goes with you, not me. I get nervous of having responsibility for her every day. I can barely cope with my 3".

Or something along those lines. No-one could criticise you for that - having charge of someone elses child IS a responsibility and no-one can deny that! You're repeating your initial kind offer of helping, on occasion, if circumstances make it necessary, but you are clearly stating that daily responsibility is too much. And you're putting the parenting back where it should be, with him!

cleaninglady · 07/06/2007 12:03

I really feel for you in this situation - i got myself into something similar with a neighbours child who always wanted to come with us in our car to school or come in our car on way home ! she was really mis behavied as well but her mum turned a blind eye conveniently I kept going off somewhere else after school nearly every afternoon to try and get the message across that we had a life besides them!
Could you not say your having a problem with one of your dc ? i know that sounds bad blaming one of your dc but say one of yours is causing problems on the way to/from school and you dont want his dd to suffer or not be supervised properly because of it ? cowards way out really but the sort of comment i made to try and get out of it !

saadia · 07/06/2007 13:44

I really sympathise, this is the kind of situation I could get into myself.

What if you said to neighbour's dd that you think she should go with her dad?

I have been giving lifts home from school to a friend and her ds and even though they are perfectly nice sometimes I just don't feel like it and would rather be alone with my own dss but as it has become an expectation I can't really say anything and I feel really mean for minding as their house is on my way home so it's not really any trouble for me.

I think the neighbour is just being very unreasonable and I know a lot of parents are quite happy to fob their dcs onto others.

SSSandy2 · 07/06/2007 13:45

bosscat. That's some cheek. Wondering if I could ever try on something like that!

Ripeberry · 07/06/2007 14:33

Why would he be given a car? wish someone would do that for me.
And why does having a car prevent him from walking.
How far do you have to walk to school anyway, is it more than half and hour?
Sounds like he is just a bit depressed himself and can't put up with the hasstle of actually parenting the child as he might "upset" her.
But that child does need a good talking to by her dad so that she will know that he cares for her.
My mum always used to say to me, that "If i stop shouting at you, that will be the day i don't care about you"
Cruel to be kind and all that..
AB

NuttyMuffins · 07/06/2007 16:32

His sister gave him the car I think he said.

He walked home today so the situation didn't arise for me to say anything, but will see what happens in the morning.

The walk to school takes about 20 min.

OP posts:
purpleturtle · 07/06/2007 16:42

Perhaps you could point him in this direction.

bakedpotato · 07/06/2007 16:49

what an awkward situation.
we have neighbours who asked it we could regularly share the walk to school, but I made apologetic noises and said I liked that time alone with DD, they seemed to understand.
might be easier to approach it that way.
poor bloke is in a bit of a hole though.

NuttyMuffins · 07/06/2007 16:54

They think her behaviour is normal though purpleturtle, she has always been spoilt. She is the youngest of 4 girls and the elder 3 are all grown up and so if she asks her parents for something and they say no, then she asks a sister and they give it to her. Tbh though her parents rarely say no to her.

Her elder sister is even moving to a bigger house because she has the girl to stay of a weekend and she has moaned that she doesn't like her room.

OP posts:
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