I thought my holiday lawn display was festive and fun until my neighbor’s kids treated it like a playground. Their mom didn’t care, so I had to get creative with a clever solution that left them all… sparkling.
Now that the holidays are over, and I’ve finally cleaned up the aftermath, I can tell this story. Honestly, I’m still a bit shocked at the lengths I had to take, but my neighbor truly didn’t leave me a choice.
This past December, I turned my front yard into a holiday wonderland.
Reindeer with twinkle lights pranced across the lawn, an inflatable Santa waved at passersby, and a massive rainbow-lit sleigh took center stage.
I spent many days setting up, and I know most people would say that I went too far, especially because I don’t live in the most festive area. But every night, I enjoyed the glow from my living room, sipping cocoa and basking in the festive spirit. It was worth it.
One evening, I was distracted cleaning up my kitchen when I heard a crash.
Startled, I rushed to the window.
To my surprise, my neighbor Linda’s kids, Ethan, Mia, and little Jacob were right outside, tearing through my yard like it was a playground…except they wanted to destroy everything in their path.
Ethan was 11, so he was old enough to understand what he was doing wrong. But still, he’d climbed into the sleigh and shook it. I didn’t know if he was trying to topple it or pretending to ride it.
Meanwhile, eight-year-old Mia yanked the lights off the reindeer, giggling.
Finally, their little brother kicked at the inflatable Santa until it wobbled dangerously.
I also noticed that several ball ornaments I had placed on my plants along my porch were now shattered. That must have been the noise I heard.
I couldn’t believe it. But the worst part was that their mother was sitting right on her porch, scrolling through her phone.
With a huff, I threw on my coat and marched outside.
I tried to call the kids’ attention, but that was impossible, so I went to my neighbor.
“Linda!” I called, waving my arms.
Her head barely lifted. “What?” she asked, irritated.
“Your kids are wrecking my decorations! Didn’t you see them?” I gestured at Ethan, who was now jumping up and down inside my sleigh.
“Can you get them out of my yard?”
Linda glanced up, shrugged, and went back to her phone. “They’re just kids having fun. What’s the big deal?”
I gawked at her.
“Excuse me? The big deal is that they’re destroying my property!”
After rolling her eyes, Linda finally met my gaze. “Maybe if your display wasn’t so flashy, it wouldn’t attract attention.”
My mouth dropped.
Her lips then curled into a smug smile.
“Besides, you’re rich enough to fix it, aren’t you?”
Rich? Where did she get that idea? Sure, I had spent a pretty penny on the decorations, but that didn’t make me a millionaire.
These items had been an investment toward my happiness for the season after a tough year.
Also, that wasn’t the point! Her kids didn’t have the right to damage other people’s property, even if I could afford to replace everything easily.
As I tried to calm myself, so I wouldn’t start yelling, Ethan jumped out of the sleigh, laughing. “Nice sleigh.
Too bad it’s gonna fall over!”
He even kicked one of the reindeer for good measure.
Mia giggled some more. “Do that again!” she asked her brother and clapped as her eyes met mine. “You’ll just fix it,” she added.
“You’re obsessed with that stuff!”
The rage coursing through me over mere yard decorations confirmed it: I had become one of those old people. But honestly, these kids were acting completely spoiled and entitled.
Still, yelling at them to “Get off my lawn!” wasn’t going to do me any good, so I took another deep breath, turning to my neighbor again.
“Linda, let’s be reasonable. I understand kids will be kids, but this is just plain disrespectful.
Can you please do something?”
Linda snorted. “Can’t you see that I’m busy?” she raised her phone to emphasize her point. “It’s just decorations.
Get over it. Besides, the kids are already on to something else.”
With that, she stood up and went into her house.
I turned and noticed she was right. Her children were off my lawn and onto someone else’s.
But my decorations were skewed, and my inflatable Santa was now dirty with shoe marks from Jacob’s kicks.
After rearranging everything, I heard the three kids running back to their house and laughing. It was a taunting sound, but I hoped that one day of being rowdy was enough for them.
I was not so lucky.
The vandalism continued. Every night, Linda’s kids turned my decorations into chaos, and I didn’t always hear it.
They had become sneaky. It was a game to them.
One morning, I found my sleigh tipped over. The lights on the reindeer were completely ruined, and my Santa was fully deflated.
Looking back at my security camera footage was heartbreaking.
They were all laughing as they destroyed my hard work, their intentions clearly malicious. Well, maybe not little Jacob; he probably just followed his siblings’ lead. But it was still wrong.
I decided to confront Linda again.
I marched over with my laptop, ready to show her the footage. “Look,” I said, hitting play. “This is your kids wrecking my yard.
AGAIN.”
Linda smirked. “Cute video.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, outraged. “I could show this to our HOA or call the police!”
The story doesn’t end here — it continues on the next page.
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