Anonymous wrote:OP here, water cooler is a good idea.

How much responsibility should I take to make sure the kids get home at a certain time. They will tell me, "My dad told me to tell you I have to be home at 6." Generally I'll announce it is 5:30 or 5:45. Sometimes the parents will text or call to tell me a time for their kid to be home. I’ll say they are outside somewhere; best bet is for you to yell for him/her. My view is if the kids are playing all over the place outside it is Lord of the Flies and I'm not assuming caretaker responsibility for them.

If they're actually playing at my house I'll pop my head out and make a general announcement that its 5:30 so everyone needs to start heading home for dinner. If they're all just out in the cul-de-sac or bouncing from backyard to backyard just playing I'll yell for my child when its time to come in and I expect other parents to be responsible for their own children.

My neighborhood is like this. If they are playing at your house, send them home when your child comes in. If they are generally playing outside, they are on their own time with their own agreement with their parents. If I see a child out at dark, I would call the parent just to give them a heads up, and would want them to do the same for me.

Anonymous wrote:OP here, water cooler is a good idea.

How much responsibility should I take to make sure the kids get home at a certain time. They will tell me, "My dad told me to tell you I have to be home at 6." Generally I'll announce it is 5:30 or 5:45. Sometimes the parents will text or call to tell me a time for their kid to be home. I’ll say they are outside somewhere; best bet is for you to yell for him/her. My view is if the kids are playing all over the place outside it is Lord of the Flies and I'm not assuming caretaker responsibility for them.

"Larlo, its 5:30, you need to head home."

A kid who is 7-11 is old enough to be responsible for getting itself home on time, in my opinion.

OP here, water cooler is a good idea.

How much responsibility should I take to make sure the kids get home at a certain time. They will tell me, "My dad told me to tell you I have to be home at 6." Generally I'll announce it is 5:30 or 5:45. Sometimes the parents will text or call to tell me a time for their kid to be home. I’ll say they are outside somewhere; best bet is for you to yell for him/her. My view is if the kids are playing all over the place outside it is Lord of the Flies and I'm not assuming caretaker responsibility for them.

I kick the kids outside. If they don't like it, too bad.

If its a nice day out then I pretty much require the kids to be outside. I love that the neighborhood kids are comfortable coming over and really enjoy playing with my kids but having them all in the house gets overwhelming for me so they're usually outside. I'll bring out snacks & drinks, and we have a water cooler that I leave outside during the summer so they're not in and out grabbing water & what not.

I kick the kids out ALL the time, especially if they are neighbor kids.

I am more lenient about letting them play inside, even in nice weather when it is a formal playdate.

I am with you OP. Kids need to be encouraged to play outside. Sometimes it takes you going out there and helping them start a game. But the benefits are enormous.

My child regularly (like 5 days a week) has at least one, often two or three, neighborhood kids come over to play, ages 7-11. Our house/yard is the place they want to be, fine with me, mostly. Problem is, the kids look at me like I have grown two heads when I tell them the weather is nice they have to play outside. Tons for them to do outside in the front yard, back yard, other yards, in the road, toys, bikes, scooters, ditches, dirt, frogs, trees, mud... I am very clear and stern if pushed about it. Sometimes I’ll tell them they can play inside for a set amount of time before everyone leaves. These kids all live within about 12 houses of each other in an older style neighborhood on a very large cul-de-sac. How does it work if your house/kid is home base for the neighborhood? What do you expect from your neighbor if your kid is going over there?