‘I’d appreciate some competent parenting:' Neighboring kids keep tossing toys into next door year and parents do not care, neighbor teaches them a lesson

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jul 12, 2025 1:00 PM EDT

It's one thing to play an impromptu game of catch with the neighborhood kiddos, but it's another thing entirely to be their ball fetcher—you're not a dog. When I was little, my brother and I would constantly accidentally end up with our ball either next door in the neighbor's yard or on the roof of the other neighbor's garage. Unfortunately, it it ended up on the garage roof, it was donezo R.I.P. But if it fell into the other neighbor's yard, we would go over and ask politely if we could get our ball and Judy would be more than happy to let us get our toys—she'd even encourage us to pet her cats on the way through her house to the yard. It was innocent and wholesome. We never considered going into the yard without permission or like we were entitled to have our neighbor go onto the roof of his garage. We were being taught responsibility and accountability— both very important parenting lessons. 

 

So when the kids of the neighbor of this Redditor started either breaking into this yard or acting entitled for him to give them back their yard toys and the parents weren't doing anything, he took the lesson learning into his own hands. 

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  • RLS
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "You’ll never do that again"

    I live deep in the heart of suburbia in an upper middle class area. We had a nice semi-private yard until the neighbors directly behind us. sold their home and moved. The new people, who have two teen aged sons and have been there for four years now, cut down all the trees and shrubs
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  • on their side of the fence which transformed my nice private yard into a semi public space. We weren't happy but there was nothing we could do about it since it was their yard. We did plant shrubs on our side but it's still not as covered as it was before they moved in.
    via sumdumguy12001
  • Now the shrubs at least partially obstruct their view of my yard. They put a basketball set up on their patio and their two extremely uncoordinated sons are constantly outside playing sports and tossing bricks against the backboard. They also love kicking soccer b lls,
    via sumdumguy12001
  • tossing tennis balls and throwing crocs around. Again, their yard so, as much as I don't like it, I keep my mouth shut. I loved playing sports as a boy and I wasn't the greatest athlete but I was always respectful of my neighbors and kept my balls in my own yard
    via sumdumguy12001
  • and, when I didn't, was nice and apologetic about it. The two kids behind me aren't like that at all. Once they moved in, their balls, and crocs, were regularly my yard as well as their next door neighbors yards. At first,
    via sumdumguy12001
  • they'd either ring my bell to ask for them or, if I saw them, I'd just toss them back over the fence. But how much is too much? It was happening weekly. Then they'd stop coming over to ask and their bills would just sit in my yard until I tossed them over. Last
    via sumdumguy12001
  • summer, I just collected them near my side of the fence behind my shed and let them sit there until late autumn until I finally tossed them back. This year, a soccer ball was in my yard. Soccer balls aren't inexpensive. We let it sit there for a good two weeks. When
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  • our landscaper came to do the lawn maintenance, we told them they could have the ball. We haven't had a ball in our yard since. EDIT: I'm not the crotchety old man. If they came and asked for the balls, I'd happily give them back but they don't.
    via sumdumguy12001
  • They sort of forget that they came over the fence. Personally, I'd prefer they come get them. Yes, I've spoken to the parents but they don't care either. I'm also not complaining that they're using their own yard. Cutting down the trees was their decision
    via sumdumguy12001
  • and, although it does affect me, I didn't say a word because it's not my property and they can do what they want in their yard. After being nice and throwing them back for 4 years, how much longer should I keep doing it? It's
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  • happened multiple times in a day and it's very annoying. The kids are teenagers and are just kicking the balls and throwing them all over sometimes. They should know better. Now they can play with other balls.
    via sumdumguy12001
  • Cheezburger Image 10526696192
    via Unsplash+ (and Giorgio Trovato)
  • Vast_Sweet_1221 I had balls coming over my back fence regularly. The kids on the other side always came over and apologetically asked if they could retrieve them. But one day a metal tipped arrow came over. I grabbed it and headed to my neighbor's house. Dad answered the door. I
    via Vast_Sweet_1221
  • house. Dad answered the door. I handed him the arrow. He said to me, "Hold on a moment." "John!!" "Uh, yeah Dad?" "Is this yours?" <squirm> "Uh yeah." "What do you have to say to Vast Sweet?" Much groveling unfolded. I was a teenage boy myself. I appreciated witnessing some competent parenting.
    via Vast_Sweet_1221
  • Marvinator2003 Went out to mow my lawn one day and as always, walked the yard looking for odd things that I didn't want to become projectiles. Kid's toys (my kids) apples from the apple tree, stuff like that. This day I find ROCKS. I began picking them up when I realized the sheer number AND the fact that they
    via Marvinator2003
  • made a path, so to speak, from my above ground pool to the back fence. Not hard to figure out that the neighbor's kids had been throwing rocks to see who could get one into the pool. (Not even close) I
    via Marvinator2003
  • took a handful of them around to the neighbor's house and showed them to her. Her kid in the background turned white when I explained where I had found them. Never saw that again.
    via Marvinator2003

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