Thanks to the global coronavirus pandemic, it’s virtually impossible to find a pool to set up at home. Pool companies report being sold out as early as March when many anticipated the longterm closure of public pools due to the virus.
Those who missed out on buying a pool before they sold out regret waiting so long. Whether it’s a good-sized pool for teens or a short-sided inflatable one for little kiddos, anything is better than nothing.
One woman shared on Reddit that she ignited a heated debate online with a neighbor over a swimming pool and her spacious backyard. The neighbor allows her four kiddos younger than 10 to play in the neighbor’s yard without asking permission.
The unidentified woman and her husband, both 26, live in what they call a starter home. Their yard is bigger than the neighbor’s, but that’s only because the neighbor has a much bigger driveway that consumes most of her yard.
After hiking one weekend, the couple returned home and found the kids in their yard with their bikes discarded in the driveway and toys scattered around. The woman returned the toys to the neighbor’s home and asked that they not play in her yard again.
She apologized, saying she was happy they were able to get out of the house while she cleaned. But that wasn’t the end of the pushy neighbor.
“Well, last week when I was in my garden, my neighbor (kid’s mom) came and said hi. She asked if it would be okay if the kids could use my pool since it doesn’t seem like it gets used much anyways. She said she’d supervise but the kids have been wanting to go swimming but they can’t cause of [virus] restrictions. I told her I wasn’t comfortable with that, even if my husband and I were home at the time. She seemed to understand and she let it go.”
Many people who own pools say that they’re a magnet for the neighborhood kids. Some families believe that they bought the pool for themselves and not for everyone else to pop in and out of whenever they feel like it.
They didn’t spend all that money for the neighbor kids to be in all the time and especially to be in it unsupervised after all.
The woman thought their last conversation was the end of it until she hopped onto Facebook and scrolled through the neighborhood’s Facebook group page. That’s when she found her neighbor’s upsetting post.
“I’m really disappointed in the disrespect for parents. It takes a village to raise kids, and we should support each other in this troubling time. Children need places to play and grow! When I first moved here I hoped this to be a neighborhood for young growing families. I’m just overall disappointed in how some members of this community aren’t keen on being friendly to children.”
While the mom didn’t name names, the woman believed she was talking about her. So she decided to leave a comment of her own.
“Maybe you should have gotten a house with a bigger yard if your kids want to play.”
The neighbor texted the woman awhile later saying that she was hurt over what the woman posted. The woman told her to leave her alone.
She shared on Reddit that her husband agrees that she was perfectly in her right to not want the kids playing in her yard and swimming in her pool, especially considering the liability risk.
However, he said his wife probably shouldn’t have left the nasty comment on Facebook.
The woman’s neighbor texted her a few hours later, saying that she was hurt. The woman asked her neighbor to leave her alone. Ouch!
After sharing the saga on Reddit, the post blew up. It drew more than 1,000 comments!
People were either in total agreement with the woman who didn’t have to let the neighbor kids use her pool or play in her yard or accused her of being a “classist” and doesn’t understand what it truly means to be a neighbor.
“Maybe they couldn’t afford a house with a lot of land and maybe they had to make a compromise with the house they bought. It also probably makes them feel like [expletive] parents for not having a ‘good enough’ house for their children.”
Others felt the mom had every right to ask to swim in the neighbor’s pool.
“I actually think it is ok for the mom to ask about the kids using the pool, especially since she offered to supervise. She may have come from a neighborhood where this kind of interaction was normal. No harm in asking. But she also needs to accept ‘no’ as a totally reasonable [response].”
Numerous people said that either way, the woman should not have gone so far as to post something rude on the neighborhood Facebook group page.
“She could have mentioned that she didn’t want strangers using her pool or potentially damaging her yard and felt it wasn’t right to be shamed for wanting privacy. Instead she just said something mean for the sake of it. The other neighbor is entitled for sure, but this woman doesn’t sound like a prize herself. At the very least she definitely lacks tact.”
Eventually, the woman shared on Reddit that her comment was rude and she should have let it be.
“Some people are saying I insulted her wealth and home. This might not matter but her home is way bigger than my own but the yard is smaller based on how it was built. That’s all my comment meant, I wasn’t calling her poor. And I’m not filthy rich either, so it’s not like I’m looking down at her for money.”
So what do you think about this saga over a swimming pool and yard? Who was in the right?
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