Does anyone regret NOT having a yard with small kids?

[Anonymous]

Hi, Yes sometimes we regret it...but when my kids were 2-5 I just used to take them to the playground. We also did a lot of playgroups and my house has a great basement for toys and others had great yards so it balanced out. Now my kids are school full time they play sports after school and have homework, dinner and bath. We don't even have time to justify a yard over the reasons we went w/o it. I was very annoyed during the years they were home but my husband always assured me that it would only be a few years and then they would outgrow it any way and he was right. Our weekends are filled with outdoor activities anyway so we did not loose out too much.

[Anonymous]

*lose

[Anonymous]

My kids are 5 and 8 and we have basically no yard, just a small slate patio, that it. It was pretty much fine until a couple of years ago and now I kind of wish we had one. They do go out the patio to play but it's so small it's pretty limited as to what they can do.

However, now they are reaching the age where we can send them to the little grassy area across the street and I don't feel I need to actually go with them, I just keep an eye on them from inside the house. In another year I think I will feel comfortable sending them to the park 2 blocks from here alone.

IMHO, the ages that a yard is really useful is about 2-6, and then they become busier with school and outside activities and don't use it as much. For me that's a relatively short time and if I were making a housing choice, the yard would be a lower priority than commute, schools, etc.

[Anonymous]

bought a house far out to have a yard.

spent so much time commuting and tired on weekends that we rarely ever used the yard.

child got older and same situation bc they were in after care and in sports. The yard just costs us money to maintain but provides only a few days of year use.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We live on just over 1/3 of an acre in Fairfax County. Yard work takes a couple hours a weekend, so during nap time, that's usually what we are doing -the raking is particularly time-consuming as we have quite a few trees.

We are just about to trade that for almost no yard. Maybe I'll regret that when our kid is older, she's only 3 now, but I doubt it. She's going to be an only, and I don't forsee her playing alone outside for long periods of time, ever. She'd always want to go to the park to be with other kids anyway. She gets bored by herself and right now is too young to play outside alone.

WE have an 8 yo only, and I wish we had less yard to deal with. She really does not spend much time playing in it. Maybe if we had another kid they would have played in the yard together. But for now, she would rather go to the playground a block away. And, we never invested in much backyard play equipment because of the aforementioned playground a block away.

[Anonymous]

I love our yard . DC age 6 and 8 go out to look for bugs, check out rocks and practice hitting the ball often. We garden and the kids like the summer and fall bounty . The mosquitoes have limited our time outside though.

[Anonymous]

We moved from a townhouse to a house in part to get a real back yard. While it is nice to have for the kids, we/they do not use it as much as I might have imagined. Certainly when they were little, I would have to go out with them for them to play outside. Now, my elementary aged kids play out front on the block with other neighbor kids.

The move from townhouse to single family home was a good one for us, but moreso because our particular townhouse community didn't really have families with young kids, so no one to play with there. If there had been other kids and/or a tot lot, it may have worked better for us.

[Anonymous]

We moved from a house with a yard to a row house with a patio - the kids hate it and so do I. They were used to playing outside while I cooked dinner and cleaned, which was great for all of us (I could see them from the kitchen window - I still dream about it). They aren't old enough that I'm comfortable sending them to the park unsupervised so that means that while I'm cleaning they're making a giant mess somewhere inside

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We moved from a house with a yard to a row house with a patio - the kids hate it and so do I. They were used to playing outside while I cooked dinner and cleaned, which was great for all of us (I could see them from the kitchen window - I still dream about it). They aren't old enough that I'm comfortable sending them to the park unsupervised so that means that while I'm cleaning they're making a giant mess somewhere inside

we have a yard and my kid STILL manages to do this.

actually, we probably could have stayed in the TH - but my husband wanted a dog. And we weren't getting a dog if we didn't have a yard. Period. So between the dog and the kid, the yard is worth it to us.

[Anonymous]

We are in a rowhouse with a small yard, which leads up to an alley. The kids in our neighborhood play a lot in the alley. (It's a small, clean alley with only a few garages, so very limited car traffic.)

[Anonymous]

We live in a rowhouse and there is a large field for soccer/softball, basketball courts, playground, etc the next block over. Having a big yard isn't an issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We moved from a house with a yard to a row house with a patio - the kids hate it and so do I. They were used to playing outside while I cooked dinner and cleaned, which was great for all of us (I could see them from the kitchen window - I still dream about it). They aren't old enough that I'm comfortable sending them to the park unsupervised so that means that while I'm cleaning they're making a giant mess somewhere inside

we have a yard and my kid STILL manages to do this.

actually, we probably could have stayed in the TH - but my husband wanted a dog. And we weren't getting a dog if we didn't have a yard. Period. So between the dog and the kid, the yard is worth it to us.

I am the PP here - I love being outdoors with them, so a yard was great for all of us. I could spend my life digging lavender I passed this love to them when we did have a yard so they really miss it too (I am sure my own perspective doesn't help this!) and we hear about it a lot.

[Anonymous]

I think the bigger factor is having a fenced yard. I had a pretty large side yard at my first house - unfenced. I never felt like I could let my under 4 kid out there without watching pretty closely. Now I have a fairly small but fenced proper back yard and I like it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The mosquitoes have limited our time outside though.

We bought a house with a yard for the kids. They never, ever go in the yard due to the Asian Tiger Mosquitos.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The mosquitoes have limited our time outside though.

We bought a house with a yard for the kids. They never, ever go in the yard due to the Asian Tiger Mosquitos.

Um, bug spray?