Neighbours kids keep looking over our fence

[lilybit2025]

As the title suggests. Young girl around 5-6 keeps looking over at our fence. Did it a handful of times yesterday until I turned around and said 'hello can I help you?' And she's doing it again today. It sets our dog off and drives her insane yet she still does it.
I find it incredibly intrusive and I don't know if our neighbours know she's doing it and she's only a child but we do not have children and aren't particularly fond of them either.

Probably to start yet another 'I hate kids' threads.

There's a lot of them about.

I love children. But they do need boundaries.

Find a male acquaintance who would be willing to sunbathe starkers in your garden, the parents would soon stop her annoying habit!

Some ludicrous comments on here, making excuses for this girl. She knows what she's doing, and the parents don't care. Got a few like this in my road, and parents who DGAF.

I have children - now adults - and do not dislike children - in general, but I would not tolerate this. It's bad behaviour from the child, and she is not 'just curious' ... She knows she is being a little shit, and is annoying her neighbour... She does not care....

And it is shitty parenting... Telling the parents is not going to do anything. They know she's doing it. How can they not? They do not care. As long as she is not bothering them.

A carefully aimed jet of water from the hosepipe will do it. One blast at her over the fence, and she'll soon stop. No namby pamby shite like soft soaping the girl or 'reasoning' with the parents, or buying fecking Easter eggs! 🙄

Whoosh goes that water jet.

DO IT @lilybit2025 Let us know how you get on.

OMG you're all such a joyless lot. She's only a kid.

Dress up as a ghost/monster, jump out the back door with a big scream and frighten her off forever. 😊

As someone who grew up in a different country, I find threads like this endlessly fascinating as an insight into cultural differences, and I mean that without any judgement.

It’s interesting to see adults tying themselves in knots over how to handle a slightly annoying child next door. In my Eastern European country, you’d usually either sigh inwardly and ignore it, or just speak to the child directly.

When I was a kid(things might have changed now, so I am not sure), it was completely normal and accepted that other adults might tell us off if we were being a nuisance to them or in general - sometimes kindly, sometimes less so - and it wasn’t seen as a big deal. Parents were brought in as a last resort.

I don't think the parenting 'tips' suggesting soaking the child with a hose pipe,exposing yourself to her or sitting staring at her are the right sort of 'tips'

Good time to start 😄. If anything, I'm sure it'll be amusing for both parties.

Higher fence....

Funny how we all see things differently. I’d get increasingly wound up by this and no way would I try and train my dog out of barking if and when a face suddenly appeared over my fence! There shouldn’t be faces appearing there! 😂

If you think it’s acceptable, what age would it not be?

5 or 6 is teeny tiny, have you thought about being nice? If your dog got to recognise her and want strokes it’d probably calm down.

I'm with you OP. I had the same. Kids over the back of me looking over. We had 8ft fences. We were at the bottom of a hill so their garden was higher. They'd do the same, stand on chair. In the end, after asking very nicely numerous times to please stop looking over. I resorted to "Just fuck off with looking over my fence!!!". Never did it again.
It's rude and intrusive and you shouldn't have to put up with it. Dog or no dog.

I think she'll soon get bored. She'll be back at school next week.
Like you said, uts the first time she's been out able to do this so probably be a novelty and you've made it into a game.

Hi all - she did it again whilst I was upstairs. This time barking at the dog and making our dogs lose her shit. I've just gone round to the parents and asked them to stop her looking over. They of course have said she isn't doing that. Time to move 😂

Did you actually tell them that she was doing it right at the moment, climbing up on stuff, looking over and barking at your dog? I wouldn’t have just walked away after they denied it. We’d be having a conversation and I’d also be standing in my back garden and shout on them every time she did it.

Actually, when we all moved into our new build houses a few years ago, my partner and I spent a small fortune on Prosecco and wine, and took them round to every house in the vicinity (those which we could see from ours), introduced ourselves, and said we were looking forward to getting to know them, etc.

Didn't stop the guy next door letting his girlfriend's kids run absolute riot all over the shared courtyard, smear our living room window with their hands, kick balls at our door and car, etc etc. Went on for 3 years.

The woman on the other side of us spoke to their mum about another issue they caused - the kids destroyed her outside light and plants - she was promptly told to fuck off, and given the finger by mother AND daughter (daughter is about 12). This neighbour herself is a pain but didn't deserve that. We ourselves would let this woman use our then-spare parking space and she never once said thank you.

Thank God the neighbour bought his girlfriend her own house so she rarely comes here anymore.

Catching more flies with honey doesn't always work.

Can you get off the fence please, we don't want it to break. Thank you.

GET OFF THE FENCE, YOU'LL PAY FOR IT IF YOU BREAK IT!!

Used to suffice in my day.

Tell her firmly to stop, if it continues buy a water pistol.

Yes, I said she's done it a handful of times today, barked at the dog minutes before I came over and it's very intrusive of my privacy. Dog goes AWOL etc etc. please don't let it happen again.

Also just to add - the dad wakes us up every morning at 4am as he converted his garage into a gym a few years back and the garage part of our brick wall in our garden. So I don't think they particularly care for others. So we've put up with a lot over the years. It is what it is, if she does it again when I'm next out there I'll just tell her to bluntly to stop. Regardless if she's 5/6, I never did that as a child as my parents would throw a frenzy. We found it funny at first her just peering over but now it's actually very annoying.

It’s not worth moving house to get away from a nosey kid. You could have the same again unless you buy a detached house with a massive garden.
Could you extend the height of your garden fence with trellis and then get creative with sheets of fake ivy and a staple gun?

It might be worth a try. I’ve got kids but I wouldn’t be letting mine do something deliberately annoying like this. If the kid can’t see anything apart from fake ivy then she might not be tempted to keep doing it.

Hell no to taking an Easter egg round! Parents should be more mindful of what she is doing as it is aggravating OPs dog!

Why are you on Mumsnet if you don't have children, and you don't like them?

Ive had alot worse. We had neighbours kids looking over fence, kicking balls over and calling us racist names. This seems quite tame. Why dont you grow a bush if possible?

Why are you on Mumsnet if you don't have children, and you don't like them?
This old chestnut.
You do know mumsnet is not just about mum's!
Theres probably nearly 100 threads about why non mum's are here.
Whether op has kids or not is irrelevant.

Bonkers that they say she wasn't doing it.

I'd be tempted to water the plants along that fence- if she isn't looking over she won't get wet

I feel your pain. We have grown adults doing this at our house! They also take photos.