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Original poster

I can't stand kids!!!!!

28 replies

Rhubarb · 06/06/2002 14:32

No I mean it! Apart from dd of course! A few weeks ago we removed these large 'cattle-shed' type gates from our back garden and replaced them with iron railings, thinking that no-one ever goes down the back of the houses and we're not overlooked. However since doing this we have been invaded by swarms of kids! They are there first thing in the morning, goggling at me whilst I have my breakfast, swinging off the railings, throwing things over, etc. If I take dd out, they mither all the time, "Can we come and play with her? What are you doing? We can see in your house. We're hungry. Can we have a drink? Can we pick some of your flowers?" I can't enjoy my garden at all now without at least six pairs of eyes watching me.

Do they have no homes to go to? Am I to be subjected to this now for the whole of the summer? If we have a BBQ it will be horrendous, I can see it now; "Can we have a burger? Pleeeease can we come in? We're so hungry! What are you cooking? Can we help?" I've half a mind to get myself a very large water gun! Or I could electrify the fence......

There, moan over.

OP posts:
ScummyMummy · 06/06/2002 14:40

Yuk, Rhubarb, they sound v annoying! Will try and think of some kid scaring tactics...

Marina · 06/06/2002 15:01

Wiring up the fence sounds highly reasonable to me. Or, it will take a while to grow in but variegated holly or a nice tough berberis make good hedges and are very thorny...what an incredible nuisance for you, Rhubarb. But maybe the novelty will wear off in a few weeks?

Susiebabes · 06/06/2002 15:01

How awful. That must be soooooo annoying. Electrifying the fence sounds like a good idea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have you tried just telling them to go home? I know how rude and cheeky kids can be......do you know any of their parents? You could maybe speak to them??? I don't know - I too will try and think of some kid scaring plans.........

jessi · 06/06/2002 16:23

They sound like my neighbours kids! They used to drive me nuts when ds was younger, he'd be having his daytime nap and I would attempt a little snooze in the garden and the kids would yell and squirt my washing line with water pistols and throw tomato's etc over. Argghh! However, this year ds is much more vocal and confident and I even had the son next door pleading with me to make my ds leave him alone as ds kept hurling sticks through the trellis! My only answer is to TOTALLY ignore them, this definitely worked for me, they soon realised I was SO dull they ended up not really noticing I was there! Good Luck!

Tinker · 06/06/2002 19:26

Rhubarb - you have my complete sympathy. I've had about 4 summers ruined by the child from next door who used to perch on the top of a step ladder and just look into my garden/kitchen window all evening, every evening. Her moterh used to make completely ineffectual comments like 'Are you still pestering ?'. 'Yes, she bloody well is, why don't you bloody well tell her to get down"!!!!!'

I remember when my daugheter was in her high chair and I was feeding her near the dining room window. This kid's face was about 2 foot away staring in! In the end, I had to resort to telling her myself in that low growling voice so that her ineffectual mother couldn't hear.

I have some revenge now because she still pesters, via my daughter, outside at the front saying, ', can I come in?' 'No'. No explanation given! It's terrible but I've realised I can't forgive a 9 year old for ruining every summer. My advice - get them scared of you! Be 'That nasty woman'.

pamina · 06/06/2002 20:28

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

jenny2998 · 06/06/2002 22:19

Not quite the same as my neighbours are all elderly, but I am overlooked from all angles. Summer is a nightmare as I can't do anythin in my garden that I don't want to be watched doing if you know what I mean.

The nrighbours on the right of me have now moved, but last summer I frequently used to look up to find my neighbour peering over at me. I mean he was nice enough, but it was such an invasion of privacy. I can't wait to move...

sml · 07/06/2002 13:35

Rhubarb - I'd put the cattle shed gate right back up if it was me. I hate being annoyed by this sort of thing too. Why can't their parents teach them some basic good behaviour for gods sake. This is not a class or money thing, it's just some families don't seem to have a clue about respect for others, or how to live in a community, apart from what they pick up off EastEnders.
Where we used to live, it was "Can I have some money?" "Can I have some food?"(they didn't look malnourished) "Can I come in and use your toilet?" the whole time. The parents just laughed if they saw their kids doing it. The same kids would be round to smash things up/nick things if they detected any weakness.

Did anyone else see that program about the school in Hull recently, and how they dealt with their worst behaved few pupils (admirably, not by expelling them)? Scenes such as the geography class, where the teacher just spent the whole time trying to get them to sit down, and the dinner ladies wrestling with pupils to get them to leave the dining hall stick in my memory.

Tillysmummy · 07/06/2002 13:51

Rhubarb, why don't you try acting really crazy and weird, (perhaps some head shaking, leg dragging and weird ranting about boiling little children) - they'll probably get a bit scared of you then !

elwar · 07/06/2002 14:41

I agree, if ignoring them doesn't work then scaring might be better. You could try wearing robes and a goat's head, while butchering a side of beef and speaking in tongues in a guttural voice...

Mopsy · 07/06/2002 14:48

Electric fence!

tigermoth · 08/06/2002 11:34

Just to throw in one alternative thought to all those with toddlers and young children: The older children who pester you now, may come from the same families who will provide playing out friends and neighbourhood alies for your own child later on.

Yes, keep them at a distance, ignore them so they become bored with looking in your garden, but don't get too nasty.

Queenie · 08/06/2002 14:32

I am lucky not to have that problem, at the moment, but on one side we do not have a fence but wire (we need to put a fence up but too poor at the moment) and my dd aged 20 mths keeps shouting through to my neighbours "ello, ello, grandad" when the man is only about 45 yrs old but looks older and wears a flat cap becuase he's balding. I am so embarrassed because he said to me that she says this and I said NOOO! She can't speak, it must have just sounded like it. The thing is she can speak and says it very clearly. I am hoping for a wet summer or maybe they will move!!

Original poster
Rhubarb · 08/06/2002 14:35

I wouldn't let my dd play with these kids EVER! Their parents go to the BAe club a few streets away with their little treasures, and keep them up until the small hours just so they can get hammered without having a babysitter. My next door neighbour invited us and said that her little monster could wheel dd around in her buggy until she fell asleep for us - yeah right!

My dh and I have decided on one of those water cannons, if that fails I'll grow some stinging nettles up the railings!

OP posts:
Tinker · 08/06/2002 16:51

Queenie - that is brilliant. My daughter started shouting over to next door last summer and I have just let her - see how they like it for a change!!!! But, I do stop her trying to look over the fence.

Tigermoth - you are right about trying to strike the right balance. I've just started to let my daughter play out in the street and she does with this child. Which is good, since it means they are not in the back!

Rhiannon · 08/06/2002 20:43

Don't make enemies of the kids at the fence, they'll drive you potty by annoying you in every spare moment they have. How about planting a row of prickly bushes the other side of the railings or just putting the wooden fence back up for a year or two, perhaps they'll be bored of you by then!

You could paint the railings with vandal resistant paint, it will stay sticky and come off on their hands! You'd need to put up a warning sign though or you'll have stroppy mothers on the doorstep! R

Tortington · 10/06/2002 00:03

i cant stand kids either! and i dont think its a bad thing. i think the vandle proof paint will do it - at their height ofcourse. although i usually start with , please will you move...... then if that doesnt work, move now am busy ,... then ps off! - doesnt always work - but then i now have the luxury of having a 12 yr old to beat them up - i lend him out at a price - you have to pay the train fare - tho i warn you he does eat a lot and his feet stink!

SimonHoward · 10/06/2002 11:16

Rhubarb

I can highly recommend the Super Soaker CPS3000 for child deterence.

2 gallons of water in a backpack and a drench option on the gun make it a must for water fights and getting rid of annoying little pests.

tigermoth · 10/06/2002 12:32

But Simon, don't you find a water fight is exactly what these little pests want? Me firing a stream of water at them would attract, not repel.

sml · 10/06/2002 13:16

Rhubarb - or how about a (thorny) rose hedge?

SimonHoward · 10/06/2002 14:03

Tigermoth

Who said anything about using warm water? I prefer a mix of water and crushed ice. That tends to make them run, or just cold water from the mains on a hot day.

It is mainly the shock of the cold water that gets them going.

I tried this out on dw and 2 of my neices a few years back and it worked just fine (they thought they would get me in the back with a load of water in a fight, boy were they wrong).

You could of course add food dye or ink if you were feeling really nasty but then parents complain.

Original poster
Rhubarb · 10/06/2002 16:18

DH thinks I was exaggerating the annoyance factor of these kids, until he came across them at the weekend! He was mixing some concrete at the back and came in for a cup of tea, no sooner had he come in than 3 kids were there messing about with his concrete, one of them, can only have been about 3 or 4yr old, starting walking in it all! Dh rushed out to have "stern words" with them, whilst he was reasoning with them one of the girls starting hitting him with a thin stick and telling him that she would climb over our railings into our garden. He said he would tell their mothers to which they replied, "You don't know where we live". So he finally snapped "Right, I'm off to find the biggest bucket I can and I'm going to drench the lot of you, then when your mothers come to complain I shall tell them what you've been doing". He stomped in and within minutes there was no sight of them! They haven't been back since! However now I think I shall put a big bucket of water at the side of the railings for handy usage in case of further annoyances!

OP posts:
tigermoth · 11/06/2002 11:55

Rhubarb and Simon,
cold water on a hot day? yes please!
crushed ice? give us more!
buckets of water? now you're talking!

The children round here must be made of sterner stuff than than yours

Original poster
Rhubarb · 11/06/2002 14:16

Hmmm, maybe I should use the bucket that I drown all the slugs in?

Or is that too sick?

OP posts:
SimonHoward · 11/06/2002 14:41

Rhubarb

Remember the golden rule with children.

The grosser it is the more they will like it.

Tigermoth

Most of the kids I know would run screaming if I just threatened them with the water cannon I have let alone use it on them.

To many effete mummies boys and girls where I live. A few would stick around for the first shot but the rest would be gone so quick.