The one where I make the neighbors hate me

Yesterday was ... weird.

Ever since we moved into this house three years ago we've had issues with a certain neighborhood kid.  It started out as just kind of annoying.  She was around all the time.  ALL the time.  She wold knock at the door a dozen times a day asking for the kids to come out and play.  If I said no she would be back 10 minutes later ringing tho doorbell.  We would be sitting in the dining room eating dinner and look over to see she was standing on our porch and staring in our big front window.  She would ring the doorbell at 10 at night, wearing her pajamas and wanting to play. One day she was at out house for five hours when I happened to overhear her mother outside yelling to another neighbor "Do you know where H is?"

Some of that might make you feel a little sorry for her.  It made me feel a little sorry for her too.  That's why I kept letting her in the house even though she wasn't a very nice little girl.

Elle was three when we moved here and she was very eager to please her new playmate.  When H would come over and say "I get to use all your toys and you just play with this one car ok?" Elle would hesitate but agree.  When H would say "Ask your mom for snacks and then give them all to me!" Elle would go along with the plan.  When H would say "Tell you mom you want to give me all your Barbie clothes" Elle would cry but then say yes.  Of course I always kept an eye (and ear) on what was going on on in the room and I would step in to settle things.  "Tell your mom you want your door shut and for her not to listen to us!" and then when she left "Don't play with any of your toys or touch anything till I come back to play again!"

All that was annoying but when she started trying to take Barbie clothes from Elle I had to put my foot down.  It was ridiculous that I had to ask a six year old to empty her pockets before she left the house.  At last we decided she just wasn't allowed to play in our house any more.

Time passed and as Elle got a little older she was allowed to cross the street to play with the neighbor kids in their backyards.  The general rule was to not play in H's yard since her parents never supervised what was going on.  It was a good rule in theory but the problem was that no matter what house Elle went to H was always there.  And she was always so mean.  It seemed to make her happy to leave Elle out of games and to tease her and make her cry.  I have lost count of the times Elle has come home crying because H was being mean to her.

H's newest tactic is to tell Elle she's not allowed to play in other people's yards.  Elle can be playing with at the house across the street and H will come over and tell Elle she has to leave.  Or she will instruct the other little kids to ignore Elle and be mean to her. Little kids are like packs of wild dogs and this pack has found it's leader in H.  If she's not around they will play nicely and happily with Elle but if H is comes around they will follow her lead and be mean to Elle.

I am sad to say that Elle is pretty much the perfect victim for them.  She's the youngest kid in the neighborhood.  She's five and she still thinks of even slightly older kids as an authority figure.  She's very sensitive and cries easily.  She's still at that wonderful stage where everyone she knows is a friend and she's eager to please her friends.

Things kind of came to a head a couple of days ago when Elle came home from another neighbor's house crying because H had led the group in kicking her out yet again.  I was just sick of it.  I told Elle "You don't have to me nice to H.  If she tells you to go home you yell right at her 'Maybe you should go home!' or just ignore her."

Then yesterday as Elle was walking to to another house to ask if the little boy who lives there could play she passed by H's yard where H was sitting out with two other neighborhood kids.  They stopped Elle and an argument started.  I didn't hear anything that was said other than Elle yelling "Maybe YOU should go home!"  Jesse hurried over to step in and finish walking Elle to the next house.

The little boy on the corner (who's actually a nice little boy and not really part of the group of mean girls) came over to our house and he and Elle played on the swingset in the backyard.  They were there not five minutes when H and her two cronies came walking into our backyard.  Why were they there?  To make the little boy leave?  To harass Elle?  To be pretend to be nice to her for five minutes so that they could use her playground?  I wasn't in the mood to find out.  I stepped outside and in the most matter-of-fact voice I could manage I said "H, you are not allowed to play in our yard.  You other kids can stay if you like but H is not allowed to be over here."

H was shocked.  She stood and stared at me for a minute and then slowly turned and stormed out of the yard.  One of the other little girls quickly followed but the youngest hesitated and took a few steps closer to the playground.  H yelled "COME WITH ME RIGHT NOW!" and both the little girls quickly scampered after her.

This, my friends, is when things started to get weird.  And this is when I made sure there won't be any friendly neighborhood get togethers any time real soon.  But now I'm getting angry and shaky thinking about what happened so I'm going to continue this tomorrow.

Three years ago I was lumpy.
Six years ago I was pregnant and not loving it.