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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Pavement chalk - AIBU?

197 replies

HubbabubbaT · 08/04/2020 12:45

I saw a lovely thing online about a sensory walk pavement trail for kids - hop like a bunny here, spin here, follow the dots, touch your toes, smile - that sort of thing ... Thought it would be a lovely idea to do outside our house for all the kids going for walks with their parents .. cheer the kids up a bit. Happened to mention to neighbour over the fence before I started... He said oh isn't that vandalism of the council's property??? Hmm - AIBU or would it be nice thing to do? I tried googling it but there doesn't seem to be any clear cut law against it as far as I can see..?? Just don't want to draw it all out and then have to wash it straight off if it's illegal! Just to confirm I tried the chalks on the patio and they wash straight off..

OP posts:
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recrudescence · 08/04/2020 13:54

Pavement chalk everywhere here and definitely doesn’t put a smile on my face. Makes the place look scruffy IMO. Dog agrees - he pissed all over a rainbow on the way back from the park

hesgotit · 08/04/2020 13:54

Some little darling has chalked rainbows on the pavement in front of my home. It has rained several times and it hasn’t washed off.
If I see this happening again I’ll march the kid home and insist the parent comes and washes the bloody pavement. It’s vandalism and shouldn’t be tolerated.

Oh dear GrinGrin

You would get very short shrift from me @Esspee, maybe a bucket of water thrown, which might "accidentally" have hit you!

eurochick · 08/04/2020 13:56

Did you see the story about the copper in North London who fined a shopkeeper for chalking distance markings outside their shop? He got told to reel his neck in and I think the fine got cancelled.

MintyMabel · 08/04/2020 13:58

There’s loads of it round by us. Sure when it’s first done it looks lovely, but we haven’t had proper rain for over a week here and frankly the pavements all look a mess with it now.

The other problem with it is, kids drawing on the pavements might be safe, but when we are out walking with DD, our only option to distance from them is to go into the road. That’s hard for her to do in her walking frame and when I told her just to walk over it after asking the kids to move off the pavement, they started complaining about us walking over it.

AvocadoOwl · 08/04/2020 13:59

I am genuinely agog that people actually consider kids using chalk as vandalism Confused

Pavement chalking is just something fun that keeps bored kids engaged doing something creative and healthy outdoors, no?

Hell, if it keeps mine occupied for longer than it takes to manually scrub off with a bucket of water and a broom to appease determinedly miserable precious fuckers then I'm all for it.

MintyMabel · 08/04/2020 14:01

Hell, if it keeps mine occupied for longer than it takes to manually scrub off with a bucket of water and a broom

Get the kids to do both - double the time they are occupied 😂

Chillicheese123 · 08/04/2020 14:02

@MintyMabel yes and then change the water in the bucket and get them to wash the cars too

My daughter thinks this is a massive treat 😂

TheOrigBrave · 08/04/2020 14:03

Surely scrubbing with a toothbrush would keep the wee terrors busy for longer be more effective at cleaning.

Notnownotneverever · 08/04/2020 14:04

I think the council and the police will be otherwise engaged at the moment so you are safe. Haha

Staywithmemyblood · 08/04/2020 14:06

Kids near us have drawn chalk rainbows and messages of support for the NHS on the pavements. It's really sweet 😊🌈☀️

WhiskyTangoFoxtrot · 08/04/2020 14:06

I am genuinely agog that people actually consider kids using chalk as vandalism

Probably depends on whether the first thought in your neighbourhood is 'rainbows and hopscotch' or 'my first cock and balls'

Bobbiepin · 08/04/2020 14:07

Get the spray paint out! In for a penny...

GinnyStrupac · 08/04/2020 14:07

As long as it washes off and isn't rude, there's no problem at all.

Lots of quirky things are happening at the moment in response to this awful situation we are all in. I like quirky.

You often saw hopscotch, noughts and crosses, and x loves y outside in chalk when we were children.

Tempting as it would be to chalk 'Mr Grumpy Lives Here', with a big arrow pointing in his direction, I probably wouldn't. Wink

overnightangel · 08/04/2020 14:08

Comparing driving 90mph on the motorway with a child drawing on the pavement in chalk, only on Mumsnet 😖

AvocadoOwl · 08/04/2020 14:08

Get the spray paint out! In for a penny...

I was about to facetiously suggest the same @Bobbiepin Grin

BlackCatSleeping · 08/04/2020 14:10

I just want to be clear that I don’t personally care. My kids often draw on our driveway and front path with chalk.

My neighbor’s son drew on their front wall with chalk and it’s been there for years. I know they have a pressure washer, so I wonder why it’s never washed off. It’s a weird brown color, so maybe a different kind of chalk. I don’t know.

I’m just saying that it is technically criminal damage and it sounds like it might upset your neighbor, so maybe, as lovely an idea as it is, it’s better not to do it and just stick to your own property.

GrolliffetheDragon · 08/04/2020 14:10

Can't see the problem. Maybe go out and create the artwork late at night so it's a nice surprise for everyone next day and you're unlikely to be in anyone's way while you're doing it.

Chillicheese123 · 08/04/2020 14:11

I would love some people to spend a few weeks on an actual sink estate instead of a nice suburban street where kids want to draw rainbows on the pavement.

Try worrying about your door being kicked in in a case of mistaken identity, listening to your neighbour running a brothel from the flat next door or the asylum seeker with PTSD screaming at his kids for 10 hours straight whilst head butting the walls Sad

These are all things some of my clients have been through, bet they’d bloody love rainbow chalk !

wonkytonkwoman · 08/04/2020 14:11

Someone drew one of these near my road last weekend. It looks great and I was impressed Smile

Chillicheese123 · 08/04/2020 14:11

That was a bit dark lol. But what I’m trying to say is ... lighten up people haha !

LondonJax · 08/04/2020 14:12

OK, I own up...I am a vandal. And a long time one. I used to (whisper) do hopscotch squares on the pavement in my youth.

That's it. I'll come quietly.

Oh, but do you know what. My parents and all the parents in my street had a great little device. It was called a bucket with soapy water. What you do is dip a brush in it and wipe the brush over the pavement. No more waiting for the rain! Better still, do as my parents did, and give it to the child responsible to wash off before they go inside for dinner.

Marvellous people our parents. So wise.

ThumbWitchesAbroad · 08/04/2020 14:13

Not vandalism if it washes off with the next rain!
Spray paint - now that would be vandalism.

wonkytonkwoman · 08/04/2020 14:14

Ooh OP, the one near me had a bunny hops section and a hopscotch section and a big strides section and a running on the spot section.......can you tell just HOW IMPRESSED I am Grin

LolaSmiles · 08/04/2020 14:16

Nobody is harmed and it makes the walks nice for children.
The neighbour needs to get a grip and is probably the sort of grumpy sod who sits on MN telling people anything more than one shop a month for gruel is mass murder

daisypond · 08/04/2020 14:16

The video doing the rounds of the police officer fining the bakery owner for criminal damage when she drew two-metre lines outside the shop in chalk is truly shocking.

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