Neighborhood kids coming into danger + on property - Unsure of who the parents are. Appropriate to ask?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are two children around 9 and 3 (could be younger but I would guess 3-ish) who come up onto our street.

Last night, I was grilling (old school charcoal style) in our driveway. I ran in to grab the heads of corn to add to the grill and the older one scootered up and around the grill. I was watching from my cell phone on the security camera. It seems he wanted to look at the grill right after I went inside. As I was coming back out I saw him scooter back out of the driveway. I considered hollering out to him but something inside of me thought it was not my place to safety speech the child.

I see them around often, both are well dressed but are constantly playing in the streets. I’ve yet to see parents.

Is it out of place to ask where they live so that I can raise the safety concerns to the parents?

MYOB?

Just talk to the kids directly. It’s not hard to warn them of hot grills. It’s way more work - and therefore a bigger deal - to gossip about the kids until you find their parents, go to their home, and scold the parents. If you’re really worried about safety (and not just judging), then just tell the kid what is unsafe instead of watching unsafe things on your phone and doing nothing at the time.

[Anonymous]

Why are you overthinking saying "Hey, stay away from the grill - it's really hot and I don't want you to get burned."?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why are you overthinking saying "Hey, stay away from the grill - it's really hot and I don't want you to get burned."?

+1


You missed your opportunity to tell them to get off your driveway (I know it sounds so stupid), to get away from the grill. Do they come often onto your property? If not, then it’s a one time thing and move on but next time say something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A 9 year old kid made a circle around your grill in their scooter and you see this as some major safety issue that requires you to find their parents? Honestly, I would just move on.

You don't see the possibility that a child would knock that grill down and get burned with charcoal?

Wow

A 9 year old? No. Super unlikely. Now whether he should be on your drive is a different question, but no...this is not really a safety issue.

Of course it is. Don't be obtuse.

DP but a 9 year old in the vicinity of a grill isn’t a safety issue. I understand if OP doesn’t want them there, but it really isn’t as big of a deal as they’re making it out to be.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Pps!

For those asking about why the driveway, it’s a Townhome community sitting behind and beside other townhomes so there are not yards - driveways are what people use for grilling. HOA rules prohibit on balcony grilling. My app alerts me on my phone to the driveway - vehicles and people.
Similar to this setup:


I’ve seen the children before they are always playing in the streets like the photo above - the connecting streets between the sets of homes. The older child often is on a scooter with the younger child running behind him or walking beside him. Sometimes they’ll be kicking a soccer ball around but again, always in the street. Neighbors generally do not carry on conversation just hello/goodbye if you are out at the same time but I should ask about these two to even strike up conversation. There’s no community message board or listerv for the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you Pps!

For those asking about why the driveway, it’s a Townhome community sitting behind and beside other townhomes so there are not yards - driveways are what people use for grilling. HOA rules prohibit on balcony grilling. My app alerts me on my phone to the driveway - vehicles and people.
Similar to this setup:


I’ve seen the children before they are always playing in the streets like the photo above - the connecting streets between the sets of homes. The older child often is on a scooter with the younger child running behind him or walking beside him. Sometimes they’ll be kicking a soccer ball around but again, always in the street. Neighbors generally do not carry on conversation just hello/goodbye if you are out at the same time but I should ask about these two to even strike up conversation. There’s no community message board or listerv for the neighborhood.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with you grilling on your driveway, whatever your set up it looks like. If it’s the first time then just let it go. I think it’s great that they’re outside playing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stop grilling on your driveway. Do not ever leave it unattended if you have no other place to grill. WTF.

OP can grill wherever they damn well please on their property. WTF

That’s fine but don’t leave the open flame unattended! How stupid can you be???

[Anonymous]

Why are you grilling on your driveway?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you Pps!

For those asking about why the driveway, it’s a Townhome community sitting behind and beside other townhomes so there are not yards - driveways are what people use for grilling. HOA rules prohibit on balcony grilling. My app alerts me on my phone to the driveway - vehicles and people.
Similar to this setup:


I’ve seen the children before they are always playing in the streets like the photo above - the connecting streets between the sets of homes. The older child often is on a scooter with the younger child running behind him or walking beside him. Sometimes they’ll be kicking a soccer ball around but again, always in the street. Neighbors generally do not carry on conversation just hello/goodbye if you are out at the same time but I should ask about these two to even strike up conversation. There’s no community message board or listerv for the neighborhood.

You're find OP, these people need to pull the plank out of the collective a55. Update us if you ever find out where these kids came from.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn’t be worried about the 9 year old but a three year old should definitely not be unattended out in a street with only a 9 year old watching them. This set up is not great for people with kids that age, really. I would not send a three year old out with anyone younger than 12 in that set up, maybe 16 depending on traffic patterns. But I’m not sure how to approach that — the parents just clearly have bad judgment (or they have an incompetent nanny and have no idea their 3 year old is free ranging). If it only happens weekdays, I might swing by on the weekend with a batch of dollhouse cookies and say something.

I also would not leave a grill unattended in a setup like this. Even if it’s just a dog that gets loose, it’s a bad idea. Bring all the food outside to start or call someone inside the house to ask them to bring out the rest of the food. This is just part of the deal in living in townhome setups — people are much closer together and you need to account for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are two children around 9 and 3 (could be younger but I would guess 3-ish) who come up onto our street.

Last night, I was grilling (old school charcoal style) in our driveway. I ran in to grab the heads of corn to add to the grill and the older one scootered up and around the grill. I was watching from my cell phone on the security camera. It seems he wanted to look at the grill right after I went inside. As I was coming back out I saw him scooter back out of the driveway. I considered hollering out to him but something inside of me thought it was not my place to safety speech the child.

I see them around often, both are well dressed but are constantly playing in the streets. I’ve yet to see parents.

Is it out of place to ask where they live so that I can raise the safety concerns to the parents?

MYOB?

Just talk to the kids directly. It’s not hard to warn them of hot grills. It’s way more work - and therefore a bigger deal - to gossip about the kids until you find their parents, go to their home, and scold the parents. If you’re really worried about safety (and not just judging), then just tell the kid what is unsafe instead of watching unsafe things on your phone and doing nothing at the time.

+1. I'd tell them to stay off my driveway in a loud, serious voice. Don't worry about yelling at someone else's kids. These particular kids are part of your "village" whether you want them or not.

[Anonymous]

I can understand why you grill there...but really you can't leave it unattended. Even if legally you can...can you imagine have to live with the fact that a child was burned because you did not grab the corn before starting the grill?