Mean Neighbors

I guess I need to post this and maybe I will stop thinking about it over and over, wondering what I could have done to make this situation better. So if you have heard this story, just skip this post! :)

A couple weeks ago, S went to play with some neighbors down the street and they actually let him go into the backyard to play. (Since S has had seizures, his social skills are about on a 4 year old level and he sometimes can't remember how to play with others). I had to run an errand and went to see if S could play there for 5-10 minutes. When I got there, Mean Neighbor was mad about something but this was nothing new cause she always looks like that and S was sitting quietly on the swing as if nothing had happened. M.N.'s (mean neighbor) son, who was 3, was screaming and crying. I found out that S had been on the swing, hopped off for a second, the 3 year old got on and S proceeded to shove him off the swing, then promptly got back on it. I told S that he shouldn't shove kids smaller than him and then I took him on my errand. When I got back, S immediately went back to M.N.'s house to play and I sat in front of my house to keep an eye on him. M.N. was in the front and as soon as S made it to her lawn, she told him he was to go home and he wasn't welcome there till he could be nice. Of course, if you know S, he had no clue what she was even talking about and preceded to go into her garage to get a toy he had been playing with before. She was furious and so I got up to collect my son. As soon as I stepped on her lawn, she started in on me. She was about a foot or two from my face and was enraged by my son's "behavior" and began to practically spit in my face as she yelled at me. She told me it had taken her 20 minutes to calm down her son because S had hurt his feelings so bad and that S wasn't welcome to play unless I was there to control him. I was so shocked by this I didn't even know what to say but I started crying a little and said that we have had a hard couple of years. Hearing this, M.N. told me to not throw my life in her face, that I didn't know how bad her life was and what she was going through. At this point, all I could think of was to get out of there. So I grabbed S and told M.N. that she wouldn't have to worry about S anymore, he wouldn't be playing there anymore. She then told me I was unreasonable and he could play another time as long as I was there. I replied that I didn't want to hover around S or at the neighbors houses. That made her even madder. How did I get myself in this mess? I was shaking and just made it back to my house before I started crying. I don't want S to be a bully and I don't justify what he did but if it had happened at my house, I would have brushed the kid off, give S a lecture of how to treat people and gone back into the house. The M.N. follows her kids everywhere they go, they can't even ride their bikes w/out her following them. Granted, I want my kids safe but I refuse to be a "helicopter mom".

As if that isn't bad enough, 2 days later, we finally let S ride his scooter in the front (while I was there, OF COURSE) and he crashed into Miss Paranoia's kid (M.N.'s best friend) who lives next door to me (I am in the middle of these two neighbors, isn't that nice?). They have the same opinion of raising children, you have to be a foot away from your children at all times! One time, Miss Paranoia, let her son come to my house to play with K (this was a couple years ago). They were playing just fine, when he tripped and fell. (S was nowhere near him, I promise!) He started crying and screaming and started heading for the front door. Now all the windows and doors were shut, there was no way he could be heard crying from the outside. I was trying to see if he was okay and telling him to stop crying and I opened the front door and, no lie, Miss Paranoia was running full tilt across my lawn and made it to my front door before it opened all the way. I am not kidding! This is how they raise their kids and why they think I am a failure as a parent.

Only a few days later, I stopped to get the mail and to pick up the kids from choir class which is just down the street from me. S wanted to sit in the front seat and since it was just a block away I let him. I got the mail and was opening one, when I heard S start crying, I looked over and he had rolled up the window on his head. This was in view of M.N.'s house. He happened to cut his eyelid just a little bit but no blood or anything. Luckily, M.N. wasn't outside!! Pour S's eye puffed up but he was ok. Bandaids fix anything!

Now if you can endure one more story about S... this was still within 2 weeks of the first incident. I was at my mom's house but I had left my husband in charge. He had gotten in the shower w/S when I left. He got S all clean and S got out of the shower with his hooded towel and Big S (my husband) told him to get his underwear & jammies on. Big S proceeded to shave. When he got out of the shower 5 minutes later, the phone was ringing off the hook. Big S got the phone and one of our nicer neighbors told him that our son was in his Birthday Suit riding his bike around the neighborhood. Nice! Big S threw on his own clothes and ran to get his naked son off the street. I think I have lost my mind about 3 or 4 times since then. I think I will take a break and then tell you what happened at K's baptism!