'Entitled neighbours demand their kids play in my garden as it's better than theirs'

A woman has been turned into an enemy of the neighbourhood after refusing to allow everyone's' to play in her garden. She explained how she moved into her grandparent's old house after discovering she and her husband, Andre, were expecting their first child.

When she was younger, her transformed their garden into a 'kid's dream', constructing a playground with everything you'd ever want. She said on : "My grandparents owned the lot next to their house, they just used it for more yard space. But when my sister and I were born grandpa knocked down the old shed on the empty lot and built a playground for us.

"Everything was made with his own two hands. It was a kid's dream and we both played there any chance we got. And after we grew up they let the kids of their neighbourhood use the place to play with no issues. But then some years later they passed and the house went to my mum.

"I found out I'm expecting so my husband and I started seriously looking for a house when we'd only been half trying before. Mum suggested we buy my grandparent's house since we know it's a good place and us buying it would keep it in the family.

"It's still in good shape, has no HOA, and is close to a good school. So we bought it for a steal and moved in ASAP."

Right away, she noticed parents and their children hanging around the playground. She didn't mind it at first and used the opportunity to introduce herself to them.

"Everyone was lovely and younger than I'd expected but it seems a bunch of couples with kids had taken over the street in the past five or so years," she said.

"The problem arose when Neighbour Witch (NW) brought her kid over one afternoon. I happened to be by the window and saw a flash of red outside.

"It was a kid in a red shirt literally standing on the roof of one of the two storey playhouses, almost 10 feet off the ground. I ran outside, thinking he was alone and said he needed to get down right now.

"That's when NW stormed over from who knows where and yelled at me to fuck off and not tell her kid s***. I asked if she was his mum and after getting a yes I asked her to make her son get down before he got hurt.

"She argued saying I couldn't make them do anything, so I told her this was my property and yes I could."

With that, her child fell to the ground and started to cry. She said: "He was fine. He got up without issue and ran over to NW.

"She picked him up and said if he'd been hurt she'd have sued me so I threatened her with the cops if she didn't leave. She flipped me off and called me a "'in jockey' (random as I don't drink at all, let alone gin) but left."

Her husband shared his concerns about parents trying to sue them if their child gets hurt on their property, so they decided to put up a fence to keep the children out.

The Redditor continued: "Parents came by asking why the fence so I told them why, and they can thank NW. I heard she's been shunned by the other parents and none of them will let their kids play with hers."

Wanting to know whether she's in the wrong, she added: "I feel guilty her son is getting punished for her actions. Maybe just saying we wanted a fence up instead of telling them about NW would have been kinder?"

Commenting on her post, one user said: "It's your right to protect yourself from harm. If any child gets hurt on your property, the parents can sue the pants off of you."

Another user added: "What your grandfather did was a beautiful gesture, but legally it's called an attractive nuisance. Putting up the fence was the only thing you could do"