Neighbors, then and now
Before you had children, neighbors were people you waved at on your way going in or out of your front door. If you were really lucky, you had similar taste in music. And if you were super lucky, they were the kind that brought by baked goods because, at the end of a tough day at the office, they knew you were too tired to bake.
Now, that I have children, my neighbors are people to be avoided at all costs. I live in an old house that was divided up into two living spaces, with a separate townhouse in the back that we share a backyard with. There are also neighbors on either side, with about 10 ft. between their houses and ours.
One evening, the doorbell rang and it was my neighbor and her fiancé. After exchanging greetings, she expressed dissatisfaction with our noise level in the mornings. She explained to me that our dining room window must be located by the window right next to their bedroom window, and at 7:30 a.m., just as she’s hitting the snooze button on her alarm clock, she could hear me yelling at my oldest to brush his teeth. My oldest leaves the house at 7:45 a.m. for Kindergarten.
Another day, my other neighbor (from the townhouse in the back) met us on the street in front of my house and asked if I couldn’t keep our kitchen windows closed, “just until 8 o’clock in the morning”.
Yet another neighbor expressed her dissatisfaction with my parenting skills one balmy Saturday at 12 noon when she came out in her nightdress to fetch her newspaper. She greeted me with the question, “Did you see what the kids did to the lemon tree?” My oldest had climbed the tree the day before, and a broken branch had fallen on the path. She apparently found it too uncomfortable skirting around the broken off bough before she had her morning coffee. Seeing as it was about 5 cm in diameter and about 2 feet long, I failed to see the humor in that one.
And my absolute favorite was the morning I answered the door, and my neighbor who lives in what she refers to as “the cottage in the back” (it’s a converted garage) was on my porch. She was stopping by, you see, because we apparently left our outdoor light on the night before, and it shines right into her bedroom, and then she can’t sleep.
Oh. And the neighbor I share a wall with? She comes out when she sees us playing in the backyard and sits with us, just to “enjoy the company”. She gets a plate of brownies every time I bake.
Now, that I have children, my neighbors are people to be avoided at all costs. I live in an old house that was divided up into two living spaces, with a separate townhouse in the back that we share a backyard with. There are also neighbors on either side, with about 10 ft. between their houses and ours.
One evening, the doorbell rang and it was my neighbor and her fiancé. After exchanging greetings, she expressed dissatisfaction with our noise level in the mornings. She explained to me that our dining room window must be located by the window right next to their bedroom window, and at 7:30 a.m., just as she’s hitting the snooze button on her alarm clock, she could hear me yelling at my oldest to brush his teeth. My oldest leaves the house at 7:45 a.m. for Kindergarten.
Another day, my other neighbor (from the townhouse in the back) met us on the street in front of my house and asked if I couldn’t keep our kitchen windows closed, “just until 8 o’clock in the morning”.
Yet another neighbor expressed her dissatisfaction with my parenting skills one balmy Saturday at 12 noon when she came out in her nightdress to fetch her newspaper. She greeted me with the question, “Did you see what the kids did to the lemon tree?” My oldest had climbed the tree the day before, and a broken branch had fallen on the path. She apparently found it too uncomfortable skirting around the broken off bough before she had her morning coffee. Seeing as it was about 5 cm in diameter and about 2 feet long, I failed to see the humor in that one.
And my absolute favorite was the morning I answered the door, and my neighbor who lives in what she refers to as “the cottage in the back” (it’s a converted garage) was on my porch. She was stopping by, you see, because we apparently left our outdoor light on the night before, and it shines right into her bedroom, and then she can’t sleep.
Oh. And the neighbor I share a wall with? She comes out when she sees us playing in the backyard and sits with us, just to “enjoy the company”. She gets a plate of brownies every time I bake.
posted by Kirsten at 3:52 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home