‘My neighbours’ kids let themselves into my house – their parents don’t see the problem’

A dad has been left baffled after one of his neighbours’ children let themselves into his house without asking permission – and their parents don’t see the issue

Do you remember heading over to your neighbours ‘ house when you were younger to play with your friends? If you do, you probably also remember having to not only ask your own parents for permission to go over, but also ask your friend’s parents if they’re okay with you being in their house.

Well for one dad, that hasn’t been the case, as his neighbours’ children keep letting themselves into his house to find his three-year-old daughter – without knocking on the door or asking for permission. The man claimed he first noticed the behaviour when he was monitoring his daughter and has since seen it happen multiple times.

In a post on Reddit, he explained: “My daughter is 3. We’ve been living in this street for about 18 months now, and over the last couple of months, she’s been out in the street and park playing with a lot of the other kids.

“I’m not quite comfortable leaving her to play unattended, and this usually means that I follow her (and any friends she’s playing with) around the street, making sure she’s ok.

“One thing to note, there are other kids my daughter’s age who ARE allowed to play themselves without their parents there. Perhaps I’m overly paranoid, but I think that’s too young an age to leave them unsupervised.

“Now onto the issue – the other day my daughter was playing on her bike with her friends Sarah (5), Kiera (3), and Meg (4). They went round to another boy’s house Stevie (4). The kids all dumped their bikes on the street, and Sarah went up to the front door, and opened it, leading the group inside.

“I told my daughter to not go until she had asked (as I don’t know these parents that well myself), which caused Sarah to ask me why not. I said it was a little rude without asking, which she ignored and went inside anyway. The parent in question came out and said it was fine, and that indeed, it was ‘an open door policy’ on the street.

“It made me a bit uncomfortable that we have multiple groups of kids wandering in and out of houses. But today, I feel like a line was crossed. I work from home, often listening to music and such while I do.

“My wife works away from home, and my daughter goes to nursery. I was home alone, and at around 3:30, I come downstairs to make a cup of tea to find Meg in the living room, going through my daughter’s toy box, with the door wide open.”

And when he confronted his neighbours about their children’s behaviour, they told him that he just “doesn’t get it” because he’s new to parenting, and tried to convince him that the kids turning up unannounced wasn’t a problem.

He added: “I keep my cool, but I Iead her back round the road to her house. Her mum answers when I knock, and I explain what happened.

“She tries to laugh it off as happened in the previous encounter, but I say that I’m not ok with it, and that I think it’s unsafe for everyone involved.

“She says that ‘I just don’t get it’ because I’m one of the newer parents, and that I ‘wasn’t to worry’, she’d spread the word to make sure my daughter didn’t get in anyone’s house. She shut the door after that.

“That is absolutely not the outcome I was seeking – I’m happy for her to go to her friends’ houses, just not in this haphazard way that seems to be happening now.

“My wife does support me for what that’s worth. I don’t want to impact my daughter’s social circle, but maybe Meg’s mum was right – am I the a**hole for being the only parent with an issue with this behaviour?”

Commenters on the post were equally as baffled by the man’s neighbours, as many said it was “unsafe” to allow young children to wander into other people’s homes.

One person said: “It’s just polite and proper etiquette to knock before entering a household that isn’t yours. If the neighbours want an open-door policy for their place, fine, but I would want a knock and wait for me to allow them in if they aren’t accompanied by my child.”

While another added: “You did good. You do not want unaccompanied little kids entering your house unattended. Anything could happen (or not happen) and you’d be in trouble. This situation is just asking for trouble.”

And a third posted: “Get into the habit of locking your door. If a kid insists on trying to gain entry into your home and you’re not accepting visitors at that time, call the parents to pick up their kid. If the parents kick up a fuss, remind them that you’re not a daycare.”

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