Thread: The riot act

I was enjoying a period of relative peace late this afternoon which was good considering the piercing headache that had taken up residence behind my right eyeball. Coffee was perking, ready to follow some ibuprofen and a few crackers, the toddler was sleeping, my son was outside on a beautiful day - I had just seen him returning from the neighbors' where he'd been playing with their grandson - and my daughter was outside kicking around in the back yard.

Now, we rarely have neighbor trouble. There are plenty of difficult people in my neighborhood but I get on reasonably well with the people to either side and to the back of me. The neighbors to one side generally treat my kids like adopted grandkids and when I have corrected them for going into their house without telling me, the couple said, "Aww, it's ok, they can come in." So it tends to be pretty casual.

The peace was shattered by someone screeching outside. Every now and then, living in a little neighborhood like this, there is some screaming but it's usually kids playing (or briefly fighting) so i didn't think much about it. Until it didn't stop...and it had a definite haranguing tone.

Worried about what kind of trouble might be brewing (and whether my kids were any part of it) I ran outside and heard it was coming from the back of my house. Someone was yelling and complaining very loudly in my backyard and it wasn't either of my kids.

Then I saw my son, stark naked, right in front of my neighbors' house (the 'adoptive grandparents) beside the water hose (yes, embarrassing...he wanted to play with the water because, hey! It's a warm day! *sigh* 'It's not yours' is something that's very hard to get him to understand, believe me, I've been teaching that one for the last few years.) and the yelling became clearer. Their adult daughter was visiting, had seen my son, and had gone on a rampage. Not to my door to knock and ask for me but straight to my back yard to scream at my daughter, about where was I and why don't I watch my kids.

I finally got her out of my back yard and she decided to keep screaming, face to face reading me the riot act as loudly as she could. Her mom came out on the porch and I actually know her so I left her daughter making loud noises with her facial orifice and went to talk to someone who actually lives at the house.

My son was putting on his clothes (having also heard about this at high volume) at least being angry at someone else helped me not to laugh. Encouraging the streaker wouldn't have been good so I told him to go home.

I talked with the neighbor and apologized if my son had been annoying her (she had never complained of it). She mentioned a couple things that I decided I did need to talk with him about and she also said she'd give her daughter a talking-to for how she treated me. We got it all ironed out, chatted a bit, and my son's been on house arrest since.

Still, having been told that I'm a horrible mother (at high volume) has pretty much ruined the day. I don't think it's true but it still gets under my skin.

Edit: I can't wait till HER son is five. He can't walk yet...she thinks she knows everything. heh. heh. heh.

So this would be the part where we all chime in and remind you that your naked boy will be sixteen someday.... Enjoy the easy stuff while it lasts!

LOL! Yes, trust you to think of the even more scary stuff, Karl!

Bah, I never streaked like your kid did. Reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes though.

Erm...how does house arrest teach him anything?

You're assuming that it was to teach him something. It wasn't. It was because I didn't have time to take him outside and watch him and I felt that things needed to cool down a bit before he's spotted running around outside without me again. God forbid that he went back over there and honked off whassername again, I didn't feel up to the confrontation.

You know. This is how it starts, first they're streaking around the yard with a water hose and then they're trying to invade the world, create the perfect race.



Keep an eye on that kid Foxee

LOL! That's just scary, MJ. You've got a good imagination for horror.

That sounds like an extreme overreaction on the part of the neighbors (adult?) daughter. I can't imagine why she felt she had to yell about anything. What an unpleasant person she must be, I feel sorry for her son.

I agree, Gumby. Her son is the sweetest little blue-eyed guy, too. I dunno, maybe she was having a bad day or a bad life or something. I didn't really know her before she moved out. I'm so glad she did.

Sounds like the daughter's a crazy loudmouth who likes making scenes. I'd've been hard pressed not to scream back. Let's hope the kid doesn't inherit the crazy.

Ah, Foxee, there are loons everywhere and that daughter is a card-carrying nut. Don't give her a second though.

To my right are the backyard pot smokers whose laugh-a-minute teenage son leaves hot dogs and rotten bananas in mailboxes and car tailpipes. To my left are the folks who caused the great and ongoing Heritage Tree War. Wanna trade?

Originally Posted by KangTheMad

Reminds me of Calvin and Hobbes though.

Haha. LOL.

@Foxee: Take a look at the bright side, at least you don't have neighbors who smash your car with a large rock when they get pissed off with their wife.

double post

I thought Adolf parted his hair on the right.