Would It Bother You If Neighbor Was Spraying Chemicals Around Kids?

If he was spraying in his yard, that's his prerogative. And you have no idea what was in that sprayer- could have been compost tea or vinegar, for all you know!

How about you say "Hey next time you are going to spray, let me know & I will bring my kids in so they don't breath it". Thanks! Big Smile!

You have the right to be bothered by it but you don't have the right to dictate what goes on in his yard.

I would have just told your kids to go inside until he was finished. He has a right to do whatever he wants on his property---you have a responsibility to keep your kids safe. Next time if you question it, bring them in!

M

If you have a good relationship with the neighbor, you could simply say

"Hey Bob, noticed you were doing yard work last week. Could you be a sweetheart and give us a heads up when you are spraying your lawn so we can redirect our kids to play in the house while the chemicals evaporate. We just don't want them to be caught in any over spray."

Keep it light and friendly, and make it *your* problem, not his.

You really cannot control what he does in his yard. :(

God Bless

I wouldn't say anything to the neighbor on this because he didn't have any obligation to tell you what he was doing on his own property. If his spraying whatever-it-was made you uncomfortable you could have approached him at the time and asked him in a friendly manner what it was and if it were toxic, and then you could have instructed your children to head into the house until he was done.

His yard..you have zero rights. I totally get that people are concerned about their own kids and such, but your views on this do not extend to other people and what they want to do on their property. As long as they are following city ordinances and laws of the land you can't do a thing.

Funny you mentioned this, my neighbor just came over and asked me to keep the kids and the dog out of the front yard when they get home from school (not the dog, lol) because she's spraying up there. She totally gave me a heads up. I think your neighbor should have mentioned it to you before starting... I would have your husband just casually mention to your neighbor to give you a heads up before spraying next time so you can keep the kids away from it. Just have him mention it before he starts next time :)

At 6 and 8 your kids are old enough to be told, "When the neighbor is spraying the yard please come inside." I really hate the chemicals too, and our neighbor does tell us when his lawn has been sprayed. However, I would never tell/ask him not to spray when my daughter was around. He has a right to do his own lawn when it benefits him. If I don't want her around it, it's my responsibility to bring her in (she is too young to know to come in when they are spraying).

I don't think there's anything you can do about this without coming across as a complete overbearing, overprotective you know what! I don't blame you for being upset but it's up to you to ask your kids to come inside if you think they are in some sort of danger. Your neighbor doesn't have to advertise every time he decides to do something in HIS yard.

What would your husband say? The neighbbor was spraying something on his lawn, not on yours. If anything, ask him (kindly) how long he is keeping his kids off of the grass so that you can remind yours to not run across his lawn.

Yes! It would bother me! Tell him that you would like him to let you know before he sprays weed killer so you can keep your kids from that part of the yard.

I live in a farming community and the man who farms the land around our house ALWAYS comes to inform us when the crop duster will be spraying our field so we can plan our day accordingly. I appreciate his awareness that kids and chemicals don't mix!

I would be terribly bothered. I'm one of the lucky modern people who has become "chemically injured" and for the past 25 years am so sensitive to virtually all ubiquitous modern chemicals that my life is severely restricted.

No matter how careful I am to avoid chemicals, they are in the air and they find me, making me physically uncomfortable, often unable to sleep. They disturb my breathing and heartrate, give me terrible sick headaches, and sometimes make it necessary to leave a restaurant when another diner with heavy perfume enters the room, or lose my place in line at the bank or grocery store so I can go breathe. There are many public places that I simply can't be in, like public bathrooms with air fresheners.

You don't want to increase the risk that your sweet children will have a life like mine. I'd ask the neighbor to warn you ahead of time next time he plans to spray. I have arrangements like this with my neighbors, and they're pretty considerate about it.

I'd just call the boys inside until he was done spraying. I would think either what he was spraying was non toxic or he doesn't believe it's toxic. (He's not right but a lot of folks still don't get it - it's just household products to them.) I wouldn't let it bother me because I would not think there was anything intentional about it. Also, you can educate your children to avoid the lawns that have the "pesticide just sprayed" signs up when they are walking and the fumes of work trucks and people outside smoking and all the other ways people and products and equipment pollute. That way they might recognize a situation like this and just move away from it themselves which is what you want them to do. Heck, if I were in the backyard and he started spraying, I'd move away from it - I can hardly walk down the aisle at Home Depot where the pesticides and fertilizers are - yuck.

If you are "neighborly" with them you might mention that next time he's gonna spray to let you know because you dont want your kids out there breathing it.
If the breeze wasnt blowing in your direction it was probably not a big deal and he didnt even consider it getting to your kids.
His yard his rules tho like others have stated. Best way to piss off a neighbor is to tell them you dont like what they are doing on their own property, so be careful if you decide to approach it.
The thing you should do is just make your kids aware of pestacides, weed killers, etc.... and inform THEM that if someone is spraying something that they should come in the house or at least get away from it especially if they can smell it. Educating them would be better than confronting others.

There's probably a warning label on the container indicating that it should not be sprayed when children are near. Even though your neighbor is spraying his grass, with air currents and breezes and such, it's easy to see how some of the chemicals may have carried over to your yard for your children to breath in so, yeah, I do believe that your concerns are justified. I do wonder if your neighbor may have been so hyper-focused on his task that he may not have been aware that your children were nearby or he may not have thought through the possibility that his spraying weed killer in his yard may have a possible negative consequence for you and your children if you are outside as well.

I would probably try to assume the best about him -- that he was unaware of the impact his spraying may have on your family in your yard (those fence lines on properties can make us feel as if we have permanent invisible 10-feet high concrete walls set up) -- and just ask him nicely if he wouldn't mind waiting until your children are inside to spray his lawn or to let you know ahead of time so that you can set your children up with some indoor activity while he does his spraying.

Hope this helps.

I feel for you, N., and really have nothing to add except that I understand. Our daughter has severe seasonal allergies and cannot be outside if anyone is mowing nearby. I can't tell you how many times we have just started playing outside and a neighbor starts up the mower. In we go. I guess I agree that you are responsible for your own kids and your neighbor probably never even thought about the spraying affecting them. Our backyard neighbor is a mowing freak (mows at least twice a week) and several times he has started up his very loud riding mower when we have had guests in our backyard. At first I was indignant at his rude behavior to be mowing just feet from us (and I must say, I DETEST the noise of a riding mower and think they are completely unnecessary for yards our size), but as my hubby pointed out, it is his yard, his right, and we can choose to go inside. Still, if you have a good relationship, I agree that you could casually mention it but put all the responsibility on yourself as one mom said.

I didn't read all the responses, so I'm sorry if I'm being repetitive.

I'm assuming you don't have a fence, so your kids were visible to your neighbor while he was doing this? I would be bothered too, but so many people don't think about it. It may have been that his kids weren't with him, because he can't watch and work (as some people can't), not so much about the danger of the chemical.

If you have a good relationship with him, I would say "I noticed you were spraying the other day. Can you tell me what you were spraying?" Maybe it was organic and not a problem anyway (here's hoping!) Then ask him "Would you mind telling me next time you are going to spray, so I can keep my kids inside while you work?"

If you don't have a good relationship, send your husband over! :)

Good luck!

Updated

I didn't read all the responses, so I'm sorry if I'm being repetitive.

I'm assuming you don't have a fence, so your kids were visible to your neighbor while he was doing this? I would be bothered too, but so many people don't think about it. It may have been that his kids weren't with him, because he can't watch and work (as some people can't), not so much about the danger of the chemical.

If you have a good relationship with him, I would say "I noticed you were spraying the other day. Can you tell me what you were spraying?" Maybe it was organic and not a problem anyway (here's hoping!) Then ask him "Would you mind telling me next time you are going to spray, so I can keep my kids inside while you work?"

If you don't have a good relationship, send your husband over! :)

Good luck!

I would consider the relationship with the neighbor before saying anything; are they likely to be considerate? if so, what's done is done and the only thing to say is your preference to limit exposing your children to chemicals and if he will spray again and he sees your kids out to please spray later or tell you so you can move your kids. If your neighbor has kids I would like to think he factored the safety/risk of exposing his own kids in the yard they play in and if your relationship is a good one, ask what product was used to spray. Then you can do your own research on the risk/safety of the product. We avoid chemicals too and my husband uses vinegar and dish washing soap, it dries the weeds up too. Good luck.

His lawn to do with what he pleases.

N., I haven't read all the other responses so I apologise if I am being repetitive. I think you should talk to your boys about it and, next time they are outside and the neighbor starts spraying near them, have the boys say something (Are those bug killing chemicals? Eeww we don't want to breathe them!) and then have them come inside. It will teach your boys to protect themselves and may get the message across to the neighbor to be more aware.

Good luck

HECK YEAH it would bother me . . . but I'm not sure what you can do about it other than ask nicely that he not do it. If he refuses then what options do you have?

I'd try to find out what he's spraying and research it a bit before I talked with him.

It's a double edged sword. I wouldn't want anyone spraying chemicals around my kids but I wouldn't want to have to deal with the weeds or bugs he was spraying for.
Example: My neighbor got some free compost from the city several years ago. The compost was infested with earwigs and I have been battling earwigs since. I don't think they sprayed at all. I have sprayed around my house and some in my yard but when I bring in summer flowers to enjoy inside I find they have earwigs in them. YUK
Also there is a space 3-4 feet between their fence and garage, they never mow it or do anything with it. It becomes covered with weeds and I end up digging out and spraying weeds in my yard because the seeds blow into my yard. They also had a tree that spread seeds all over the place and I have had to spray and dig out seedlings all over my yard. Finally last summer I sprayed the weeds on their side of the fence just so I wouldn't have to deal with the weeds in my yard.
I would talk to the neighbor and ask that he let you know if he is spraying for bugs or weeds so you can keep the kids inside or take them to a movie while he is spraying. I am not sure about the contents of herbisides but after Agent Orange in Viet Nam I'm concerned about it. When my brother was a pre-med student he learned a lot about inscecticides and found out that they use dulituted nerve gas (the stuff we banned as chemical weapons) as bug killers. I know that was many years ago and I am sure the formulas have changed but I don't like using them.

Sorry, it's his yard so you don't have a right to say anything. He can do whatever he wants in his own yard. If you do say something, you will just look like the wacky nut job neighbor. :)

His yard, his business. I would say if it really bothers you and you have a good relationship ask then to let you know when they are going to spray their yard so you can keep the kids inside.

My friend who was a navy brat lived in Florida as a child. The county used crop dusters to spray DDT on the crops. All the kids in the neighborhood would race to ride their bikes in the cloud and have a great deal of fun...in DDT. She is okay health-wise but still...DDT.

If it is a treatment for weeds it's probably safe for your kids. A lot of those guys who turn yards pink or green with weed killer don't even wear masks and they do it every day, all day.

I've had this issue at my old home... I simply asked them not to spray while my daughter was in the yard. She was always inside well before the sun went down... They can wait until 7-8p to do this. But to demand it, I wouldn't do that. Maybe ask nicely.

In reality, later that neighbor's wife made sure that there was not to be chemicals sprayed anywhere in their yard any longer. (Her choice) Because of my daughter and other neighborhood kids. She was a really sweet lady.

I dont like chemicals either but I believe that your neighbor has a right to spray whatever he wants in his own yard. If your kids are out next time he is spraying have them go inside until he is done. I think saying anything could start issues/problems. I am sure you would not like someone coming over to your house asking you not to do something. Yes, chemicals are harmful but again its his yard - he should be able to treat his yard how he wants. If it bothers you then you should be the one to make the change (have your kids inside when he is spraying)

Yes it would bother me. He has the right to spray his yard of course, but it would be polite to either wait until your kids were inside or at least notify you that he'd be spraying them so you could bring your kids in. The chemicals are probably airborne for a while. Its also polite to notify the neighbors because their kids need to know that they should not go on his property to play and this could also affect your yard, that stuff isn't just going to soak into his yard. Maybe planting some bushed along the edge of the property would help "contain" it to his yard more...

It doesn't hurt to talk to him about it, worst case scenario he'll get mad and refuse to do anything. He likely has not even thought about the consequences to his neighbors by treating his lawn with chemical, or even to his own kids!

Best wishes!

It would bother me, yes. But if there are boundary lines between your yard and your neighbor's, just keep your kids in your yard. If they play with the neighbor's kids, make sure they keep their shoes on if they play in the yard.
And leave their shoes at the door when they come home so that they don't track the chemicals through the house. I don't think it would be a major disaster, but an ounce of prevention. The sole of the foot absorbs so much stuff it isn't funny, so if you practice prevention at your end, it shouldn't require a 'face off'. If the kids play together over there, maybe they'll notice there's no bare feet and ask why. Then someone---the kids or you---can tell them your concerns.