+1000 Put a noise machine on so your kids can sleep, and consider cleaning up your yard your contribution to a delightful tradition that lots of families would kill for. |
| Twice a year? I would not care; itsounds like a lot of fun. I wish my neighborhood did this. I’m sure your husband will be ok if two times a year he can’t mow the grass on schedule. |
You really don't see the difference in aggressively destroying someone else's stuff versus dealing with some shoes in your yard for a couple hours? |
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I would just throw everything out. Lost your shoes? Sounds like a you-problem.
Unclench, OP. |
I personally wouldn’t do it, but then I also personally would never leave my junk or my kid’s junk in my neighbor’s yard. Ever. Both of these things are extreme, both throwing things out and leaving it there in the first place. |
| Twice a year? I’d let it go. Put everything in your yard in a garbage bag and let the neighborhood know the garbage bag will be on the curb for them to retrieve their belongings. Anything left by trash days goes. |
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I think it is really great that your neighborhood can do this and I definitely wouldn’t be the downer complaining about people having fun. It’s fine to proactively mention/ask about clean up next time. For the next event, send a message: “Hey everyone, would anyone be interested in joining a clean up crew at 10 am the day after? Bring the kids and let’s make it easy to collect any trash and items left over after the fun.”
Or if it’s HOA sponsored you can directly ask the HOA to make sure there is a clean up plan. |
My neighbor's kids have left stuff in my yard all the time and if I've moved it, it's been to keep the stuff safe when I'm mowing or it's storming. It's not remotely a big deal. Having to move a ball or Frisbee left on my grass is a trade I'd take any day for a friendly neighborhood with nice kids. Their parents bring us cucumbers and tomatoes from their garden. |
I agree. You will too once your children are older. |
Because one family of kids leaving stuff occasionally versus masses of kids and adults leaving literal food garbage in your yard are the same things
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I would take stuff out of my yard and put it in the middle of the cul de sac or on the sidewalk. No WhatsApp messages. If they are missing items, they can come look for them.
You can also ask next year if they can put the bounce house in a different part of the neighborhood. They should be moving it around not putting it in the same place every year. |
This. OP we cannot control others. Burn bridges with neighbors at the peril of your kids’ social lives. Don’t dwell on minor, very infrequent annoyances. Grass in DMV was not mowable this am. |
Did I miss an update where OP screamed at the HOA or something? She didn’t do anything but vent here, correct? |
| It’s only twice a year. I understand your annoyance, but it’s one of those things that you need to roll with. Vent away, but a few hours twice a year seems like a really minor inconvenience for building strong neighborhood relationships. |
| I still have very small children and babies, so I guess that skews my perspective. I’m surprised OP isn’t getting more sympathy for the noise at that hour. There is probably a local noise ordinance that applies. |