Neighborhood Kids

There are pros and cons to having kids in the neighborhood, lol. The pros definitely outweigh the cons, but whew it is definitely an adjustment:) We had none/zero/na-dah around our old house. The boys truly love their friends that they have met and I enjoy (most) of them, but more importantly I love seeing the friendship bond being formed. Chunk has mentioned time and time again about how he would leave the house in the morning and come back before sunset with his neighborhood friends. I think back to my earliest childhood friend, Brandy; and it brings me such joy still having her in my life. We met back in 1st grade at St. Barnabas and have been friends for gosh, 26 years!

It's also an interesting perspective (now) as the adult. Never once did the thought cross my mind that I might be annoying with how much I could babble on and on about (oh the innocence of children!), lol. In fact, I (like most kids) thought the parent WAS interested in: how late I stayed up the night before, or why I wouldn't be able to play at 3pm NEXT Sunday, or what I ate for dinner last night or that my aunt's-counsin's-mother's-granddaughter is walking at FOUR months old, lol. I do say all of this with a kind heart, as we were all kids one day who wanted to share "exciting" info to the world! 

Anyway, onto to the cons, lol. The first week we moved in, I was basically dumbfounded as I watched in excitement     for the boys, as every.single.day 2-3 EXTRA boys were at our house when I came home from work. I hadn't even met these kids parents and here they were at our house anywhere from 3:30 to as late as 6:00, eating our snacks and running all over the place. I remember feeling a bit of panic, as this was all new and I wasn't sure what rules we would/should have. 

Of course, they really are just kids being kids, I'm just anal-retentive and like to have structure and rules set in place :)

We set our rules and they remind the boys about OUR house rules many times :) I met their parents and they did not know they were here all that week (certain kids can play with other kids, so the parent thought that they were at the other parents house). Anyway, we text when the boys are coming home if it's after dark. My boys are still too young for me to feel comfortable sending them out in the neighborhood to go knocking on different kids doors. I mean they are only 5 & 4!

However, apparently not everyone feels this way :( There is a 5yr old girl and her younger brother 3, maybe 4, whom I've yet to meet their parents. When we first moved in and she knocked on the door (I had never met her) and she didn't even know my boys names. She asked if she could come in and play. I told her that she needed to let her mom know where she was and ask if she could play with the boys. I assumed her mom didn't know where she was and would likely come to meet me (before letting her 5 yr old come into a strangers house that just moved into the neighborhood). 5 minutes later, she was ringing the doorbell and I opened it, only to see her mom across the street, a few doors down, waving to me that it was okay if she came inside....5 mths later, I still haven't met her...yet her kids will come knocking periodically.

Today, my sweet husband was taking Jack & Jared to the zoo because it was a beautiful, warm day and hoped it would give me a break too. Well, that doesn't happen when you have neighborhood friends, lol. Over the course of 2 1/2 hrs, kids were ringing the doorbell to play. That just sets the dogs off on a forever ending barking spell. Then the kids want to chit-chat with me and I have to interrupt them, kindly tell them to leave so I can go see what Joshua is up to. 

Oh and we've had to teach them about ringing door bells. One time I was using the restroom & I had all 3 boys back in my bedroom. Someone rang the doorbell 6x in about 2 minutes. Then another time, a kid rang the doorbell a couples of times and then kicked the door! My mom was here and explained that we do NOT kick doors. They are now all pretty good (except the 5 & 3yr old....understandably so, but they don't do it often). 

Anyway, I am glad that we found this wonderful neighborhood and that the boys will grow up with these kids. I'm just ready for my kids to be old enough so that I can send them out for a few hours! :)