Anonymous wrote:So, recently our dear old neighbor moved away. We were pretty close, and both had kids that would play together. Sadly, her job transferred her, and so the family moved away.
So a few months late, a young couple moved in. They seem very friendly and reached out to us the very first day.
Anyway, while they are friendly, my big problem is that both of them are really heavy smokers and just stand out on their stoop smoking every hour or so. I don't think this is appropriate for a small community where children are being raised and often run across neighbor's yards playing. I don't want my kids (Ages 12, 11, and 7) to have the second hand smoke risk, plus I do not want to have the adult influence of smokers living next door.
Is there any polite way for me to ask them to smoke inside or in other areas?
This is not the last time your kids will be exposed to something you don't approve of. Use it as a teaching experience with your kids but leave your poor neighbors alone. You can't control everything in your kids' universe, which of course you are already realizing with your 12-year-old. It's going to get much worse as the kids get older but it won't be your neighbors who are the bad influence, it will be your kids' friends. That's how my kid started smoking - because she started joining the theater kids when they took breaks during rehearsals. Thank god she has finally quit smoking.Anonymous wrote:OP here. It is getting to the point where if they are home I have to make sure my kids are inside. The houses in my neighborhood are close together, and all the kids on the block just goof off/ play sports in the adjorning yards, so having these neighbors sitting out there As for minimizing running over others' lawns, all the lawns that are used (including theirs) are with their permission.
The biggest thing is that it is sending a bad message to my kids, especially my 12 year old son (who is starting to be too old to watch everything he does), that smoking is fine, and even normal. I grew up, went to college, and lived for a while in Philadelphia, and one of the reasons I moved away (to DC) was that Philly was just full of smokers. That is not the way I want to live, and it is especially not the way I want to raise my kids.
It is really hard to deal with these new neighbors, as they are always asking us over and trying to talk with us when all we want to do is distance ourselves from them. We do not want to smell the inside of their health (bleeggh, cigarette smoke)...
Anonymous wrote:OP if you are not a troll and this is real, please, please, please, please come back and tell us how this goes for you. I just have to know!!Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I think it is perfectly fine to ask the neighbors to be respectful of my kid's health. They can smoke indoors or in their back yard, why they just have to smoke right in the front where the smoke puts the neighborhood kids in danger is beyond me.
OP if you are not a troll and this is real, please, please, please, please come back and tell us how this goes for you. I just have to know!!Anonymous wrote:Anyway, I think it is perfectly fine to ask the neighbors to be respectful of my kid's health. They can smoke indoors or in their back yard, why they just have to smoke right in the front where the smoke puts the neighborhood kids in danger is beyond me.
OP here- Of course not. I see alcohol being illegal in 5-10 years, and I don't want my kids being part of the group selling their bodies for the last drop of liquor.
Anonymous wrote:This is one of my favorite threads so far. I love the idea of fleeing philadelphia because of the smokers. Also, keeping your kids away from any situation where someone might have a beer in hand for 21 years.
Troll or not, it is a classic.