Please parent your children.

The neighborhood kids, I swear. It slacks off for a few days, and then there's something else. It's ridiculous. Today, after picking Erin up from school, I took both kids and we went to a friend's house over in East-Central near where we used to live. Afterward, we met Thak in Central after he got off work, just to say hi and give hugs and kisses before he went off to school for the night (yeah, one more day of night classes. It's just a resume workshop, nothing he needs, but a formality. He may get out early.) Then we came home. By this time, it was 6 pm, I was exhausted, and still had to cook dinner for us. I told Erin and Orren that they could play in the backyard only. I just didn't have the energy to be running all over the neighborhood hunting Erin down when it was time to come in. She agreed, and without even having an attitude (she's spent the afternoon playing with her friend Lilly already).

When we pulled up in our driveway, and there was a kid kicking a can in our front yard. Really? I just knew he'd stand there and wait for me to get the kids unloaded and then ask if Erin could play. I reminded Erin that she was playing in her backyard today, and that was that. She said ok, and when he came up, she said that she might be able to play tomorrow, but today was out. He was disappointed, and appeared to walk away, but Erin and Orren were very good, and went inside, then back out to the backyard.

I was annoyed about once again coming home to be accosted by a random elementary schooler (Seriously, kids just showing up here when I'm coming home or leaving is really getting to be a big annoyance of mine.) but I was impressed with Erin's handling of the situation, and her lack of attitude. Erin and Orren went to the backyard, and I put some chicken in the oven. As I was cutting up potatoes, I heard one hell of a ruckus coming from the backyard. I mean, banging on the side of the house, gates rattling, it sounded like someone was getting attacked. I went out there and found the same kid from out front, kicking a ball against the side of my house, and my gate. I asked him what he thought he was doing. He just looked at me. I told him that if he wanted to kick a ball against a wall and a gate, he surely had one at his house he could do that at, and he needed to leave. Then I realized he looked exactly like the brat who rang our doorbell 100 times the other morning and woke up the entire house. I asked him if it was him who did that, and he said it wasn't. Then he went away. Erin told me afterward that it really wasn't him. I can't tell these kids apart. She can, though, so I'm going to take her word for that.

Five minutes later, I come back outside to check on Erin and Orren, and there was this kid, trying to scale the rock wall of my backyard! What the fuck?! I told him to get off my wall. I asked him how he'd like it if people just came to his house uninvited and did whatever they wanted. He stared at me like I had three heads. I don't think he's very smart. I told him to go away, and he did.

A few minutes later, I went back out there to check on Erin and Orren again, and they were throwing balls over the fence and that kid was fetching them. Fair enough. I didn't say anything.

Honestly, though, parents, I'm PLEADING with you, set some standards for your kids. My kids would not, in 1000 years, just trample all over people's boundaries like this. They know that people's homes are to be respected, and that you just don't go bulldozing your way in, uninvited, and just raise as much hell as you want. They know not to do that. They are 7 and 2, and they have some level of respect for people and their property. I would be so embarrassed if my kids acted like these neighborhood brats, and Erin at least, KNOWS IT. She knows she better never act like that, and can tell you with certainty what we do and do not find acceptable in this family. I get compliments on her all the time, and nobody has EVER had to run her off for being rude, too loud, or just not acting right. I'm telling you, it wasn't hard to get to this point either. Standards. Set them. Keep them. Do not change or bend them. That is how you keep from raising an annoying little bastard that nobody can stand.

5 years until our house in the boonies. This neighborhood crap is going to kill me. How come nobody ever warned me about this stuff? I thought the herd of kids in our neighborhood back in GA was an anomaly, an isolated incident. Then we came here, and everyone's like, "Oh yeah, it's a great neighborhood!" Why couldn't they at least warn me about the kids? I kind of feel a little bit duped, to be honest.