Anyone else have this problem? I can't go outside to watch my kids without watching the entire neighborhood. Once in a while I don't mind it, but it seems like no other parents are ever outside! One day I had enough and told my kids they had to come play inside so I could get a break from other people's kids.

I see tons of kids 5-9 years old playing outside with no adult supervision. Now I understand that kids mature at different rates but none of these kids are what I'd call mature for their age. I've never met a 9-year old mature enough to go outside to play all by their lonesome without doing something he or she should not be doing. Yet there are kids in kindergarten running around with no one watching them. I had to stop one kid from smashing a glass bottle into a tree and found out he sipped the contents! (People who litter - that's another problem!)

From what I have observed, I think anyone with kids under 10 playing outside ought to be on the front step, perhaps with a good book, to keep at least one eye on them.

Would you be willing to talk to the other parents about your concerns?

Apharesis, this forum is for dealing with OC issues not parenting issues. I suggest you ask a mod to move it to other topics or some other forum.

oh, whoops...I didn't realize it was sub-divided underneath the infidelity forum as well. I'll move it if I can figure out where it should go.

I experienced something similar when my kids were little.

We live on a corner of a 6 house cul-de-sac. I could see the kids from my front windows. parents would send their kids to play in front of our house because there was no traffic.

Some of the kids were pretty young - or had their REALLY young siblings (in diapers) with them.

One of my pet peeves about parents ...

People who allow their kids to run wild in public with no attempt to control their disruptive behavior

Example: kids who open up toys and remove the toy from the box in stores, leave the toy on the floor (essentially ruining the item) and the parent says/does NOTHING

I was in Penney's once, and this kid was grabbing clothes off racks and just dumping it on the ground, leaving a trail down the whole aisle. I watched him do it, while his mom noticed him and turned her back to deal with her other kid, and as he got close to me I picked one of the items up and handed it back to him and said "Didn't you mean to hang this back up?"

He was stunned speechless, but his mom wasn't! "How dare you speak to my son that way?! Who the h&ll do you think you are!" (screaming at me by then, as the crowd gathered)

I wasn't going to say anything to her until she did that. So I just said "Apparently I'm the person teaching your son some values, since you don't seem to be doing it."

Not one of my prouder days, but I sure enjoyed it.

Ummmm, I'm going to tell on myself. When my FOUR kids were very little and I had no choice but to take them with... and I couldn't get any help in a department, I'd let them loose... it was amazing how fast the clerks came running. Not MY proudest moment either. NOW, I would be appalled at me.