Children require a special level of tolerance.
They are figuring out the rules of the world, testing boundaries and getting themselves into unique predicaments because of it.
But what happens when the kids aren’t just ‘being kids’ anymore and they become something far worse?
Hooligans!
That was the issue facing Redditor and Original Poster (OP) Ok-Zookeepergame1485 when she came to the “Am I the A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for judgment.
A little intro, then right to the problem.
“For context, I ( F18) live with my 2 siblings, (F22), (M24)”
“recently, new people moved in right next to us, and they have kids. They were a bit loud, which was a bit annoying, but they were kids and kids do that.”
“I didn’t really have a problem with them until they started ding dong ditching us.”
“I don’t even know if it could be considered ding-dong ditching because they literally kick the door like they’re trying to impersonate the FBI.”
“They hang out in front of our house and do it every 10-20 minutes, keep in mind they kick HARD.”
“My sister was going to call the police in a fit of rage but I told her no, because talking to their parents or calling the police might make it worse.”
“I don’t know the kid’s situation at home, confronting the parents might make it bad for them.”
“But they keep doing it, more often, and harder.”
“There are literally dents and scuffs on the door ( I don’t even know how its possible because the kids look 10), and I’m seriously getting annoyed, along with my siblings.”
“They clearly don’t see the security camera right in front of the door, so I know their intelligence is lacking, so I’m not gonna yell at them.”
“So I wrote a sign in front of the door, kindly asking them to stop because my siblings work from home and it is extremely distracting.”
“But it keeps happening, they rip up the sign and spit on it.”
“So I can’t take it anymore, I slip on some socks and slippers and go next door to talk to the parents.”
OP tried to be nice.
“The mom said it’s not that big of a deal, my door wasn’t seriously damaged, and that they were just kids and trying to have fun. And if its that distracting, I should put on some headphones.”
“But my last straw is when these kids mess with my package outside the door and shake it and throw the box against the stairs.”
Then she took steps.
“I snap and decided to take screenshots of all the security footage of them being little menaces.”
“I make a poster, with their face on it, the damage that they’ve done to them, and photo evidence of them being menaces.”
“I type out ‘Neighbours be on the lookout! Local doorstep gremlins may terrorize your front door!’ which I found funny at the time.”
“I print it out and tape it all over the neighbourhood.”
“My other neighbour finds it hilarious, because those kids have been doing the same to her and she confronted the parent too, and the parent did nothing.”
“But today I got a giant knock on the door, and it wasn’t the little snot-nosed kids, it was the mom!”
“She called me a b-word and an ahole for humiliating her kids, she said that her kids were crying and were now too traumatized to go outside.”
“She yells at me, and drops pieces of the ripped-up poster on my doormat, and walks away.”
OP was left to wonder,
“Am I the a**hole, or did those kids have it coming?”
Having explained the situation, OP turned to Reddit for judgment.
Redditors weighed in by declaring:
-
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors decided: NTA
There was little sympathy for the parents.
“Her kids were crying and were now to traumatized to go outside.”
“So now the mother has to deal with them and be a parent instead of whatever else she has been doing.”
“I found your solution hilarious also, OP.”
“NTA” ~ Swedishpunsch
“Right? If she had said that to me, I would have replied ‘Good’ and slammed the door in her face.”
“OP, NTA.” ~ Teevell
“How about ‘It’s not that big of a deal, they’re just kids they’ll be fine. They’re not physically damaged. If you find them distracting just put on headphones.'” ~ JoinMyPestoCult
“NTA. People always talk about gateway drugs, but what about gateway crimes?”
“For now they do this, but what about when they get older? If they aren’t stopped now, then chances are this behavior would not only continue on but escalate.”
“The mom’s lucky you didn’t call the cops, as you clearly have mountains of proof.” ~ Significant_Cat_3
Time for harsher consequences?
“This.”
“But, OP, time to call the police.”
“The mom clearly isn’t going to parent them, so they need to get ‘in trouble’ from someone else.”
“I would call the police every time moving forward and look into the damages they’re doing to your door.” ~ crystallz2000
“Yeah this is the thing.”
“I get that OP didn’t want to take it too far, but the kids are active vandals and she has several recordings of them running riot and now the mother hurling verbal abuse.”
“It’s basically already escalated and it’s better to get that stuff in a report with a paper trail before something happens like a broken window which isn’t so easily ignored.”
“If OP’s other neighbour also makes a statement, even better.”
“At the very least she’ll get a warning about her kids’ behaviour.”
“If she kicks off again in that instance OP, absolutely then follow up with the police for harassment.” ~ DiamondKitsune
“NTA….the mother pretty much dismissed you when you went over because it’s not a big deal.”
“What type of parent teaches their kids not to respect others properly?”
“The kids were ‘humiliated’ because their mom chose to not parent them.”
“She’s at fault, if she can’t control her kids now, it’s only going up get worse as they grow up.”
“Next time they do anything, I’d get the police involved.” ~ PravinI123
Not everyone was on OP’s side.
“YTA”
“You doxxed children.”
“I know what they were up to was upsetting, but doxxing a child is terrible.”
“A noise complaint to the city?”
“A report for destruction of personal property and trespass. Get the mother in trouble for not having control of her children!” ~ sdswiki
“I would say YTA, but on a risky take. You had the opportunity to deal with their parents before, decided not to, THEN DEALT DIRECTLY TO A 10-YEAR-OLD.”
“Come on… you should be wiser than that.” ~ Beginning_Finger_994
“YTA, this is stupid and could be illegal.”
“You are an adult. Don’t go around bullying kids.”
“if you have the evidence, take it to the parents, if that didn’t work, take it to the police. if you don’t want to cause them trouble, talk to them like a person.” ~ mintchan
“Looking for this one.”
“NTA of course but also soft YTA because why did she make excuses for them?”
“Cops from the get-go. They wouldn’t get life-ruining consequences.”
“But their mother would probably bear the brunt of it in fines or something.” ~ So-so-right
OP did return with some clarity.
“Haha I did not expect for this to blow up! 😅 but I am here to clarify things.”
“1.) Why didn’t I call the police in the first place?”
“Well because they couldn’t do much more then give the ‘Dont do this! Don’t do that!’ Talk.”
“The scuffs are dents aren’t even that bad that bad, ugly, but maybe a paint pen and some rice will fix it.”
“Another reason I didn’t call the police in the first place is because I didn’t know the situation that these children had at home.”
“Calling the police could of enraged the parents and made things bad for the children, I didn’t know if their home life was troubled at the time.”
“But as soon as I saw what their mother acted like, I saw a reason to humiliate them 😅”
“I find that younger kids have a giant fear of being embarrassed and not coming off as cool as they seem to be.”
“2.) what did I say to the mother?”
“I just said that it was extremely distracting and disrespectful.”
“I told her that there were dents and scuffs on the door, and I showed her the video evidence in the phone.”
“I politely asked for her to talk to her children to tell them that this was affecting us negatively, and you already know the answer!”
“3.) will I call the police if this happens again?”
“Yes—and no.”
“911 is reserved for real emergencies, and I’m sure there are more serious problems than some neighborhood brats.”
“Resources are plenty but thin, I don’t want to take them up. If this does happen again, I won’t call 911, I’ll just file a complaint or call a nonemergency line.”
Patience, kindness, and tolerance are wonderful.
Sometimes, though, they are misplaced.