Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'll be honest, I wouldn't want the burden of this. Sorry guys!

Of watering your next door neighbor's potted plants once a day for a few days?? Do you never need a minor favor from your nextdoor neighbor? No package being brought out of the rain, no closing the garage door you accidentally left open? Even so, if you really don't want to, you can just say you might be away yourself for part of the week, you aren't sure of your schedule yet, and you don't want to commit to saying yes, and offer your apologies. And it will be totally fine and not rude.

Not the PP but people are too particular and quick to blame nowadays. You gave my plant too much water or my plant died because of you. You owe me a new ____. No thanks!

Anonymous wrote:I'll be honest, I wouldn't want the burden of this. Sorry guys!

Of watering your next door neighbor's potted plants once a day for a few days?? Do you never need a minor favor from your nextdoor neighbor? No package being brought out of the rain, no closing the garage door you accidentally left open? Even so, if you really don't want to, you can just say you might be away yourself for part of the week, you aren't sure of your schedule yet, and you don't want to commit to saying yes, and offer your apologies. And it will be totally fine and not rude.

My neighbors and I do this for each other frequently. It would not bother me at all.

Our neighbors ask this stuff of eachother all the time, it's pretty reciprocal. That being said, we all have had at least one child who is in the age range of 10-14 for the past many years which IMO is the perfect age to want to do these small jobs and make some pocket money. So we ask if 11 year old Larlo wants to make 20 dollars by watering the plants for the week, and of course Larlo's mom says sure, and maybe mom does it instead of Larlo if Larlo doesn't actually want to, but then we do it for them the following month and it evens out.

Anonymous wrote:How old is the granddaughter? You could offer to pay her to do it (even if she’d need to be supervised). It would be a way to offer payment without offending your neighbor.

This. I'd ask if she thinks her granddaughter might like to be paid to do it.

All of our closest neighbors "hire" each other's kids to water, pick up mail, etc. Requires a bit of supervision, but we all know it's really a favor with a side benefit of teaching kids some responsibility.

We do this often for our neighbors. I would gladly do it. And I’m a busy person. It only takes 15 minutes.

A no doesn't have to be carefully worded
The person asking has no grounds to be sensitive

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would never be bothered if someone asked me. Asked me anything. I have no trouble saying, "no" and staying friends or friendly.

Same here. No is my favorite word. I'd say sure, but warn you I know nothing about flowers or plants.

How are there so many “smart” people on here claiming they don’t know how to throw some water on plants? I mean, save your dignity and just say you don’t want to. But to say you don’t know how to?

Anonymous wrote:That's fine, OP. I would be happy to do that for you, without any payment. Please ask!

+1 same!

Anonymous wrote:I would never be bothered if someone asked me. Asked me anything. I have no trouble saying, "no" and staying friends or friendly.

Same here. No is my favorite word. I'd say sure, but warn you I know nothing about flowers or plants.

Here’s a tightened version:

You need to ask her directly. She seems busy — her own garden, plus a young grandchild she watches daily — so don’t beat around the bush. Something like: “I’m looking for someone to water my garden and potted plants daily for 7–9 days. It would involve [x and y] and take about [10–15 minutes]. Is that something you’d be able to help with?” She’ll either say yes or no.

Also agree with the previous poster: don’t frame it as doing her a favor by “letting” the little girl water your plants. If the child is elementary-age and actually capable, ask if she’d be interested and pay her — with the neighbor supervising. If she’s preschool age, you’re really asking the neighbor, so own that, ask her directly, and bring a small gift as a thank-you.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

I would never be bothered if someone asked me. Asked me anything. I have no trouble saying, "no" and staying friends or friendly.

OP, the simple part ... it's nice it's simple. But make sure your mindset isn't - well, why wouldn't she do it?

I'll be honest, I wouldn't want the burden of this. Sorry guys!

Yes, I would be bothered if someone asked me - however I am not retired and in my 60s.

My teenager does this for my neighbor and gets paid.