Easter Sunday is not a basket full of fun for everyone.
Some obviously don’t celebrate, and others just cannot get into the spirit of the decorations and egg baskets and on and on and on.
One guy on the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITA) went through this during this spring season when his neighbor repeatedly pushed his celebrations on him.
Redditor easterneighbor ultimately caused drama with this neighbor when he decidedly told the neighbor to stop involving him.
But after serious push-back from next door, the Original Poster (OP) wondered if he was in the wrong.
He asked the subReddit:
“AITA for making [my] neighbor remove the Easter eggs he put in my yard for an Easter egg hunt?”
The neighbor asked all week if the OP would take part in the Easter egg hunt.
“Since Wednesday my neighbor asked if he could hide eggs in my (28[Male]) yard as part of an Easter egg hunt they wanted to do for the kids coming to their bbq (barbecue).”
“Our yards are right next to each other with only the pavement dividing it and no fence; which I’m thinking about setting up after what happened.”
“He asked 3 times and each time I said no, because I don’t like the idea of a bunch of little kids I don’t know coming into my yard. Besides, he wanted to hide most of them in my garden, and I wouldn’t trust a 6 yr old to not step on my flowers or knock over a pot.”
“He’s been mad since I repeatedly said no and explained why. Their yards just as big as mine so I didn’t see why they needed my space too.”
Despite his protests, the neighbor persisted.
“Yesterday I was having some car trouble so I took it to my friend who’s a mechanic. Not getting it back until Tuesday. So I guess because my car wasn’t in my driveway, they assumed I wasn’t home.”
“Because in the morning I’m doing work in my basement and I hear footsteps nearby. Checked my hidden security cam, and I see my neighbor walking back to his house from my yard.”
“Right away I go outside to confront him and he looked panicked.”
The OP and his neighbor got into an argument.
“Honestly no idea why the hell he thought it was a good idea to do that. Like even if I wasn’t home at the time, what made him think I wouldn’t get there, say, when kids were in my freaking yard??? I just was so p**sed off.”
“He told me to please let them do this since the eggs were already spread out and his family was gonna be home soon. At that moment I was seriously mad so I told him either to take all the eggs back or I’m throwing them out myself.”
“Then he got mad and was calling me s**t under his breath but he picked them up and left.”
“I’m going out to check my yard to make sure he got all of them and his wife is giving me a dirty look too while he was talking to her. They had their little party and Easter egg hunt in their one yard.”
“I was out there just now watering my plants and they were cleaning up. My neighbor was still mad at me. He told me he hopes I’m happy with what I did.”
“Right now that I’m more calm and not mad at him anymore, I’m kinda wondering if I was an a**hole for making him pick his s**t up and not letting them use my yard.”
“Honestly, I was ticked off in the moment that he went into my yard after telling him no, so I’m not sure.”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some pointed out the potential liability.
“NTA. No one is entitled to the use of your property but you. And if one of the kids had hurt themselves while in your yard, it’s YOUR insurance that would go up.”
“Also, if they had damaged anything, do you honestly think this neighbor would have paid for the damages? I don’t. Put up a good tall fence with a gate that locks.” – PrairieDogStromboli
“I mean, if he was that petty and entitled about his little egg hunt is there any reason to think he wouldn’t be litigious about a scraped knee?” – SimontotheRescue
“If they bring it up again just remind him that he was trespassing illegally, and littering in your yard, and they’re lucky you didn’t call the police.” – KittyKittyKitten3
Others pointed out the neighbor knew he was wrong.
“If the neighbor panicked when he saw you, he knew he shouldn’t have done it. NTA” – thumbo-thumbo
“There’s no way that neighbor can claim communication was scrambled.” – super-common-name
“Definitely NTA. It’s fine for your neighbor to have asked but you’re not obligated to say yes. And he definitely crossed a line hiding them in your yard when he thought you were gone.”
“Who does that? Oh right. Entitled a**holes do that.”
“Put that fence up stat!” – Neat-Cucumber-2161
Some also said that no simply means no and suggested installing a fence.
“What an AH neighbor! No means no. Please put up a fence and locked gate. It’ll be worth the money you spend. NTA” – Tapioca44
“I think a fence would benefit both of them after this and fully agree op is NTA but he needs to make sure he has every little thing down to the law because I feel like neighbor will be petty and difficult about everything from this point on” – Loud-Neighborhood-76
“Nta your neighbor is an a**hole. I wonder if he told his wife you let him use the yard but changed your mind. Or maybe she’s just as entitled as he is and they both knew you said no and didn’t care.”
“Either way you should hurry and put up a fence. There’s no telling what else they will do or what they have done when you’re not there.”
“You don’t owe these people anything. Let them give you all the dirty looks they want. They’re just mad they got caught and had to use their own property for the kids to trample on.”
“Don’t feel bad. You didn’t do anything wrong. I hope you hurry and put that fence up because you never know, one day you might come home to a huge birthday party and the jumper is on your side of the lawn.” – CODE-NAME-DUCKY
Though the neighbor undoubtedly was just trying to create a fun experience for the children, he ultimately needs to think about what makes other people comfortable, as well.
As this sub pointed out, there are all kinds of reasons to not want to share in the fun, from religious reasons to legal precautions. Though that kind of puts a damper on the fun, that makes this no less of a reality.