I have a neighbor who is literally crazy. She lives across the street and 5 houses up...but it's still close. She has 6 kids and is pregnant with her 7th, ALL of her kids play outside with no adult supervision (the oldest are 8 year old twins and the youngest is 1.) They all play in the road, don't pay attention to cars coming or going, they live on the corner and even though the speed limit is 25 in our entire neighborhood, a lot of people fly. I drive a large SUV and my fear is that even if I am going 5mph, if one of her kids jumps out in front of me I can't stop that heavy of a vehicle on the drop of a dime. I have had to slam my brakes on often enough that I am honestly scared for her kids.
She also is a leech! She finds new people to attach herself to until they tire of her. It was me, and when I did one thing that upset her, she called the cops on my husband for hugging her. (Do you see what I mean by CRAZY?!?) So we haven't talked for 2.5 years now. When that happened, she attached herself to one of my good friends that lives a block up so I backed away from that friend. That friend has seen the light and no longer assocaites with her either, but now the CRAZY lady has attached herself to the lady right next door to me. Our family has always gotten along well with the family right next door and our kids play well together, but I don't let me kids play with the crazy lady's kids because they are ill-behaved (hitting, kicking, mean names, etc) and I don't want my kids around it.
I have tried to ignore her, but every now and then she really just gets to me. What do you suggest to not let her bother me? And what would you do about the kids in the road with no parents around? I fear if I call CPS it will start WW50 in my neighborhood, but I dont want her kids hurt.
Oh, and my husband and I are gone a lot from our house. Our kids are busy and we are just not normally home, even on the weekends. We are in the process of putting a deck and a fance up, should be done in the next week or so, so we'll stay home more often and enjoy our backyard, so it's not like we are around them a lot. But them being on the corner we have no option to go home without going by them and dealing with the kids in the road.
Well now I know where my one neighbor moved to. :p
Sorry we just ignored them, really nothing else you can do.
Crazy neighbors are like butts--everyone's got O.! LOL
Just ignore her & stay away.
Exercise reasonable caution driving on your street.
Call the police if the kids are unsupervised & playing on the street, as you would in any other situation.
Maybe if I had 6 and was pg with @7, I'd be CRAZY too! LOL
She won't know it is you calling if you call--I am sure with her track record, she has a long list of enemies. I would call the police and make an anonymous call to cps. Both can help you--tell them both what you have seen and ask for a well check on the children. Its too bad she is like this--she could be dealing with mental illness literally, so be careful. If she is untreated, she will be irrational and could be violent as well. GL
M
First thing you need to do (I know you are venting) is to stop calling her the "crazy lady." Second, is to call the police and discuss with them what you are seeing.
I don't here any mention of a father in the picture. If there is you could talk to him.
Take care
J.
Just ignore them!
Use extra caution why driving down your road.
I wouldn't call cps or the police on kids playing outside unless they were being destructive. If she gets a vist from the police or from cps you know who she'll blame and go crazy on don't you? That's not something I would want. I'd just keep my distance and enjoy my fenced in yard :)
I think you and I live on the same street! LOL. We have someone like that - she's a serial friend, moving from one "best friend" to the next. They never last. If you're not on her "approved" list, she even yells at you if you say "hi". Same thing - kids in the road all the time. It was so ironic - they had a big fenced in back yard where they kept the dog. The kids were out running loose at all hours of the day.
I was cleaning trash out of the woods between our 2 houses (my property, but in view of hers), and she sent the kids out to yell at me for doing so. Then she followed, along with plenty of swearing. If she NEEDS something, she's on the phone to request it though.
I think it takes an incredible amount of energy to be that angry all the time, and it took a lot out of me being angry and upset. So try to let it go. Eventually everyone will catch on. Meantime, just slow down to 5 MPH every time so that there is no chance of an accident.
You can call the police and report the kids playing in traffic - you must give your name, but the police will not use your name if the drive by or ring her doorbell. We have a former police officer on our street, and that's how it worked with him. But it won't go well if the officer talks to the mother - you are right. It MIGHT work if the officer talks to the kids. But it depends on whether you are in a populated area - sometimes small town police have more time to do stuff like this ("community policing") than in larger areas.
Just enjoy your backyard, your friends, and your life. Let this situation go. Just definitely slow down and take care - these kids need others to look after them! And this woman must be terribly unhappy to call the police on your husband, and terribly overwhelmed with all these children she doesn't spend time with. Just pity her and move on - it's better for you.
If the children are unsupervised and playing in the road then there's a responsibility to call the police. They're being endangered and not everyone is always so careful as you are, and even the most careful person could end up hitting one of the children. I would call 911 every single time you notice them unsupervised, especially once they leave their property and go into the road. It sounds like a busy street rather than a quiet little side road. You don't have to call CPS and worry about her "finding out who reported her" because if you call the police, they're trained to handle any situation and determine if CPS should be called. They're mandated reporters.
I'm shocked at the responses saying they would just essentially ignore the kids and that it's not their business. Children in danger are everyone's business. What happens when the 1 year old ends up on national news as a fatality because no one in the neighborhood bothered to call the police and the 8 year old was the only one out there minding his younger siblings? I'll tell you what happens. The entire country will demand the mother's head on a platter, and wonder how this could have happened... if neighbors noticed and if they did why didn't anyone do anything.
This is when you do something.
Stay away from her and keep your comments to yourself. Do not talk to her at all. Let your neighbors find out about her on there own. But when your neighbors start the talk about her share your experence with her and let them know that they are not the only ones that have had experence with her and they are not alone. You are also right in keeping your children away from the ill-behaved children of this crazy lady. Just know that you will have to slow down and watch it very closely when you pass her house so prepare yourself for that and watch out for the crazy lady's children. If the children are that much of a concern for you why don't you start a patition to the city or county you live in to get a sign that says "Slow down children at play" and have it placed just before her house. Who know's she might thank you, but then aging all the neighbors might thank you too.
I guess everyone has one crazy neighbor!!!! I have 1.5!!!!
Just ignore it and when the kids are on your property to play with your kids, address things as they come up. I'm pretty sure now my neighbors' kids think I'm a bit crazy too. Each of the girls from both houses decided to take something out of my garage and turn it into their personal go cart! It was the chair to my computer desk that I moved so my kids would stop using it as a sit n spin. Trust me when I firmly looked them in they eyes and spoke with my firm voice about entering my garage it stopped. I almost decided to close my garage when my kids are outside playing to keep these kids out. Then I thought, no! This is my garage and they need to respect it and obey. They may not obey and be respectful at home but they will while on my property.
I agree- for the children's sake, you should make an anonymous call to the police. Crazy lady won't know if it's you or one of the neighbors that called =o)
I would make an anonymous call to the police about the kids in the road. They can stop by and assess the situation without having to open a file. If the police see cause they can file a report with CPS.
Something needs to be done about those kids safety though and your neighbor is going to be mad no matter what you do, so not worry about that. The guilt if you hit one of them is going to be far worse.
Here in Colorado permenantly removing children is an agonizingly slow process and the outcome that everyone is aiming for is to better educate the parents to allow them to safely keep the children.
No one wants to hear that they are lacking parenting skills, but the fact is that most people are, so do not let yourself worry too much about your neighbor and just think about getting those kids the help they need.
Getting involved might mean the kids get taken away to a safer home or it may just be the step that gets the mom more help and training, but at the very least it well get someone involved that is better qualified to make better decisions for those kids.
