Let's discuss

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

https://www.mommyish.com/2014/09/10/nosy-neighbor-calls-cps-after-seeing-kid-playing-outside/

Andrewsgal · September 2014

This neighbor is a royal bitch and needs to MYOB seriously. Now kids can't play outside alone? Ridiculous.

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

Neighbor is a loon. I think many children at 8/6 are mature enough to be alone outside for some time.

bumpuser8448316 · September 2014

Fuck no. What exactly did she tell the police? I can't imagine the police and CPS showing up for a "hi there's a kid playing outside alone." Either she exaggerated or the mom is exaggerating the story. It makes no sense.

LatteLady5 · September 2014

kcisthebombdotcom said:

Neighbor is a loon. I think many children at 8/6 are mature enough to be alone outside for some time.

This.

What a waste of police and CPS resources. Seriously, every parent in my neighborhood with kids 5+ would be in trouble. There are ALWAYS kids riding bikes through the neighborhood, playing pirate ship in the neighbor's willow tree, walking through the alley, etc.

Aussie45 · September 2014

In this circumstance, no. The mom was able to see them from her front porch. I think at 8/6 the kids are old enough to have unsupervised playtime outside, especially if where they're playing is within eyesight of their house.

Now, my neighbors take this a little too far. I've seen what looked like a 4 year old pushing a 2 year old across the street in a stroller. No adults around, no one watching them. They could easily get hit by a car that way and that's something that would constitute calling the police for.

Lindsay9911 · September 2014

Insanity. That neighbor would flip if she moved to our neighborhood. There are tons of kids running around all the time.

mandymack · September 2014

Unbelievable.

And THIS is just one more example of how we, as mothers, have lost our "village". No one to support us and encourage us and help us - just a bunch of self-righteous know-it-alls quick to tattle on parents doing things "wrong" in their eyes.

Shit like this keeps fueling the "mommy wars" between women.

orangegoggles · September 2014

Wow that is awful. People are ridiculous!

meglew · September 2014

Wow. Glad she isn't my neighbor because my DD (6.5) was jumping rope in the driveway by herself last week. I could see her the entire time and with live on a dead end street with 4 houses. She definitely needs to MHOB.

caybeh · September 2014

For goodness sake. The kid was old enough to be outside unsupervised.

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

CurlingRocks said:

Aussie45 said:

In this circumstance, no. The mom was able to see them from her front porch. I think at 8/6 the kids are old enough to have unsupervised playtime outside, especially if where they're playing is within eyesight of their house. Now, my neighbors take this a little too far. I've seen what looked like a 4 year old pushing a 2 year old across the street in a stroller. No adults around, no one watching them. They could easily get hit by a car that way and that's something that would constitute calling the police for.

This would not warrant a call to the police. Seriously. Get to know your neighbor and let her know that you are concerned that her kids are playing in the street. I'm guessing she supervises from inside and isn't aware of how much time they actually spend in the street. If it were me, I'd be glad you let me know your concern and make a point to be more present when my kids were outside. But if your neighbor doesn't feel she needs to follow your rule, I think you should back off. I think a call to the police because kids are outside without an adult standing outside and wandered into the street on their own would make you look BSC.

I think rarely does butting into someone's parenting end well. I live on a long, curvy road with few stop signs. It parallels a busier road so people often use it during rush hour to avoid the four way intersection. There was this kid young enough to ride a tricycle outside unsupervised. Their house was on the curve in the road near a stop sign people often blew through since it was easily missed if you were unfamiliar with the street. I had to swerve once for him and saw multiple cars do the same. I figure if you're dumb enough to think that's a good idea you're not going to take my advice. Luckily someone beat me to calling the cops on her.

Aussie45 · September 2014

@curlingrocks In that instance, I didn't call the police, but looking back I wish I would've. The kid had a one or two year old (hard to tell based on size) in the stroller and the kid that was pushing it wasn't even tall enough to see over the stroller. They were crossing the street by themselves and it's a busier residential street that people go pretty fast on. It would be easy for them to get hit. The parent watching the kids from inside might as well just not even watch them, because they wouldn't be able to do anything in an emergency anyways.

Don't get me wrong, the original story was definitely over kill and they shouldn't have called the cops. 6 is old enough to be outside. 4 and pushing your 2 year old sibling across the street with not a parent in sight? Uh...no.

penguingrrl · September 2014

That is absolutely insane. I let the girls play outside without me all the time! I can't imagine needing to supervise every moment of theirs at 7 and 5, that's ridiculous.

ToastieSimons · September 2014

Really? I thought just reading the link before I clicked that maybe the kid was like a toddler or baby...but seriously? school aged children playing outside? ridiculous.

Aussie45 · September 2014

@LalaMama81 I would, but I don't know which neighbor it is. I have about 5 or 6 families of the same ethnicity that live around us and a lot of them have kids. I don't know where the kids live specifically and even if I did talk to the parents, there's a language barrier (typically) so I'm not sure if they would understand what I'm trying to say

Bottom line, I just don't want the kids to get hurt. I don't know how old they are, but at first glance, it was young enough to make me nervous. I didn't call the cops because I didn't know for sure where the parents were and if they were watching, but if they were watching it was well out of sight because there was no one across the street at the other apartment building or at ours. It just made me nervous. I've seen plenty of people flying down that side street and the thought of one of the kids getting hit is enough to make me feel queasy.

Aussie45 · September 2014

olivegoose said:

@Aussie45‌, I would have just gone and talked to the kids. "Hey guys! I saw you were in the street. Is your mom ok with that? The cars out here drive really fast, so be careful!"

I should've. This was about 3 years ago during the summer before we got pregnant with DD. If I saw something now, I would definitely say something to them, but fortunately I haven't seen anything else.

Good god, I feel like I'm becoming like my mom. She was always super concerned about safety and my friends and I would make fun of her for it. Now, looking back on it, everything seems *mostly* justified. #safetymomtotherescue

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

CurlingRocks said:

Aussie45 said:

olivegoose said:

@Aussie45‌, I would have just gone and talked to the kids. "Hey guys! I saw you were in the street. Is your mom ok with that? The cars out here drive really fast, so be careful!"

I should've. This was about 3 years ago during the summer before we got pregnant with DD. If I saw something now, I would definitely say something to them, but fortunately I haven't seen anything else.

Good god, I feel like I'm becoming like my mom. She was always super concerned about safety and my friends and I would make fun of her for it. Now, looking back on it, everything seems *mostly* justified. #safetymomtotherescue

I'm glad you're looking out for other people's kids, but I'd be beyond pissed if you called the cops on me over something like that. I'd rather have you say something to the kids or me, even if I didn't understand you due to language barriers. It isn't against the law to let your kids play outside unsupervised or for a kid to be in the street, so IMO, cops would be overkill, even in the situation you describe.

Wait what? An unsupervised two year old in the street is nbd? I'm sorry if you're dumb enough to allow that you deserve to have the cops called on you.

Keeptruckin · September 2014

Like others said, completely nuts! Check if the kid is okay, maybe (big maybe) walk them home. To call the cops first? Crazy!

Aussie45 · September 2014

auroraloo said:
Aussie, if you don't know which neighbors they are, what would you tell the police?

Probably that there's an unsupervised two and four year watching said two year old crossing the street alone. I mean am I the only one who sees something wrong with this? I said 6 years old is fine. A four year old supervising a two year old should never be fine.

This is all what if because it happened 3 years ago and I didn't call. Now if I saw something like that I don't know what I would do. Maybe call the cops, maybe try to talk to the parents. I seriously doubt any of you would feel good about what I saw though. This scenario and the one in the OP aren't the same. And calling the cops on an unsupervised two year old is way different than a 6 and 8 year old..

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

CurlingRocks said:

kcisthebombdotcom said:

CurlingRocks said:

Aussie45 said:

olivegoose said:

@Aussie45‌, I would have just gone and talked to the kids. "Hey guys! I saw you were in the street. Is your mom ok with that? The cars out here drive really fast, so be careful!"

I should've. This was about 3 years ago during the summer before we got pregnant with DD. If I saw something now, I would definitely say something to them, but fortunately I haven't seen anything else.

Good god, I feel like I'm becoming like my mom. She was always super concerned about safety and my friends and I would make fun of her for it. Now, looking back on it, everything seems *mostly* justified. #safetymomtotherescue

I'm glad you're looking out for other people's kids, but I'd be beyond pissed if you called the cops on me over something like that. I'd rather have you say something to the kids or me, even if I didn't understand you due to language barriers. It isn't against the law to let your kids play outside unsupervised or for a kid to be in the street, so IMO, cops would be overkill, even in the situation you describe.

Wait what? An unsupervised two year old in the street is nbd? I'm sorry if you're dumb enough to allow that you deserve to have the cops called on you.

KC, that isn't what I said. Not even close. It isn't a law violation, at least not where I live. I would absolutely say something to the parent and/or the kids, but poor choices aren't against the law. Perhaps we're envisioning different things.

See that doesn't make sense to me. A kid alone in the car is worthy of calling the cops but a toddler walking in traffic isn't? Wtf?

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

Wouldn't that fall under child endangerment like how you can't leave a kid in a car solo?

Aussie45 · September 2014

kcisthebombdotcom said:
Wouldn't that fall under child endangerment like how you can't leave a kid in a car solo?

Thats what I was thinking as well. I mean maybe I should talk to the parents before I figuratively call the cops, but if you're willing to let your four year old watch your two year old unsupervised, chances are you aren't going to care when I bring it up or get super pissed that I'm butting into your business.

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

olivegoose said:

A kid in a car in the heat is endangerment. Leaving a kid in the car to run in and pay for the gas or something? Not.

Here if you leave a kid alone in a car regardless of the weather cps is involved.

likeanoldtimemovie · September 2014

Maybe the parents didn't know the kids were out, Aussie. I was a runaway toddler. My mom would take a shower and I would climb out of my crib, unlock the door and head down our street. I was two. Our neighbor across the street saw me, picked me up and carried me home where my mom was turning the house upside down looking for me because I locked the door back as I left.

I can't imagine how she would've felt if the police showed up at her door. I'm sure it never crossed our beighbor's mind. He saw me, knew I could be in danger and took me to my mom.

kcisthebombdotcom · September 2014

Is it really that much of an inconvenience to take your toddler inside for a few minutes if you need something? I'm sorry, outside of a much older child (ie older than four) supervising it is neglect to leave a toddler outside without an adult present with the exception of a fenced yard. I don't care how well your kid listens--toddlers are impulsive. You don't need to be hovering holding their hand but you can't do shit sitting on your couch inside.

Aussie45 · September 2014

There are lots of kids running around. Older kids I've seen going back and forth and that doesn't bother me. The specific incident I'm referring to is that we were driving by and they passed by. To my knowledge it was just the one time walking by, but there were literally zero adults out. This road is frequently driven on, but it's not exactly a heavy traffic road. I don't know, maybe I'm blowing it out of proportion. What you're describing sounds like my old neighborhood. Kids were running all over all the time and parents were here and there. This road gets way more traffic than we did on ours, and I think that's why it bothers me. Well, that and the fact that the four year old is watching his younger sibling. It just seems like trouble waiting to happen to me.

likeanoldtimemovie · September 2014

CurlingRocks said:

likeanoldtimemovie said:

Maybe the parents didn't know the kids were out, Aussie. I was a runaway toddler. My mom would take a shower and I would climb out of my crib, unlock the door and head down our street. I was two. Our neighbor across the street saw me, picked me up and carried me home where my mom was turning the house upside down looking for me because I locked the door back as I left.

I can't imagine how she would've felt if the police showed up at her door. I'm sure it never crossed our beighbor's mind. He saw me, knew I could be in danger and took me to my mom.

At my old apt., my neighbor's kid was that way. It's how I met her. I found the kid wandering the hall one day, and asked where home was. He wandered up to his door, and I knocked. She was glad I brought him back, and it wasn't the last time it happened. He was a rambunctious little guy.

Yep. I was, too. That incident is what made my parents put chains and deadbolts on every door of the house.

I was also a "leashed" kid after getting lost twice, but that's a whole 'nother thang.

Aussie45 · September 2014

@CurlingRocks‌ I do appreciate your PoV. If something like this happened again, I would probably be more inclined to just go talk to the parents now. Maybe it was just a mistake that the kid was and the parents would've been grateful to have the kids back home.

More than anything, my main concern is that I just don't want the kids to get hit

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