Does anyone regret NOT having a yard with small kids?

[Anonymous]

We moved from a townhouse with a teeny yard to a SFH with a decent yard, and honestly, my kid (almost 5) would rather go to the playground. She's very social and there's a huge sandbox there and two jungle gyms, so she has a better time there. So she almost never plays in the yard, and I spend a ton of time either maintaining a yard nobody uses or feeling guilty that I'm not spending the time maintaining it.

When you have more than one kid and the kids are old enough to play unsupervised, yards are great. until then, you might not see the benefit of it.

[Anonymous]

We currently live in an apartment with two school age kids. Two things make it possible - proximity to public parks and some private outdoor space. We have a rooftop terrace which gives us our own space to grill and be outside, and we are a block from a very large park with a playground. We actually like not having the yard - no yard work means more family fun time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We lived in a rowhouse with a little patch of green when my kids were little. We were within a block of a park with playground. Honestly, I thought it was the best of both worlds. I really liked the social aspect of going to the park, seeing other people, etc. And then we had a little yard to play in when we wanted to stay at home.

It was when my kids were old enough to play outside for long periods of time without supervision but not so old that I felt comfortable letting them walk to the park without me that I felt acutely the lack of a yard. So, not really until elementary school. When we finally moved we ended up buying a house about the same size as our rowhouse but with a big yard. (And a better school system, but that's another topic.) We still live a few blocks from a park and now my kids walk there themselves when they want to play soccer.

pretty much this. It was OK...until she was 4ish an it just got old. We moved right before elementary school started and it is SOOOO nice to be able to just send her into the backyard when I need a breather.

This. We're in a townhouse with a small front yard and a back patio (no green space back there). Our oldest is about to turn 4 and it's getting really old to constantly have to pack everything up and head to the park. We're looking for a house with a yard now because it would be nice to send him outside to play while I make dinner or when there's a little down time but not enough to go all the way to the park.

[Anonymous]

The thing I like about our yard is that I can open the door and out they go at any time, with no planning required. Also, I can go out and play with them in my pajamas without a care in the world.

[Anonymous]

We have a large backyard that backs up to a wooded area with a walking path, and our kids have NEVER played in it. We live on a culdesac, so our kids play in the front yard and street. Honestly, as we are looking to trade up to a larger home, we aren't focusing on having a backyard at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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 Mosquitoes.

Um, bug spray?

You don't think that we have tried every single bug spray, citronella, bug repellent, mosquito magnet, etc.? My kids would rather bike/scoot on the street than have to deal with the mosquitos.

[Anonymous]

Yes! It's slowly driving us crazy. We have 2 kids under 4 and we live in an apartment with a little patio but no shared green space. The park is about a third of a mile away, so having to pack up and go there is a pain! I think if the park were directly across the street it would be fine, or if we had shared green space it would be fine, but this is not working.

[Anonymous]

OP, people aren't going to admit that they don't like their situation in these parts.
Ask kids who grew up like that.

What? Kids grow up in all kinds of environments and as long as they have a loving, supportive family they turn out fine. I hardly think a lack of a yard is a sign of child abuse. I can completely understand why someone might want to compromise on a yard for schools and commute, but to each his own.