Woman slams 'utter mess' caused by neighbour's children but people say she's wrong

Woman slams 'utter mess' caused by neighbour's children but people say she's wrong During the warmer summer months, it's more common for children to play outside in their local neighbourhood, but one woman has grown frustrated with the "utter mess" caused by their neighbour's kids A woman has been told to "get a grip" after they blasted their neighbour’s children for drawing on a shared footpath with chalk, slamming it as an “utter mess”. The woman is so fed up with it, she wants to ask them to make it stop - but didn't get the reaction online she was hoping for. During the summer holidays, it’s more common to see and hear children playing outside - sometimes in their gardens, and sometimes in shared spaces. One woman took to Mumsnet to ask for advice after getting annoyed with the “mess” her neighbour’s two children have caused in a shared-access area. She explained: “We are in a row of houses which have a footpath running in front of the road with a grassed area either side. One of the neighbours has two kids, who for the past week have been drawing on the pavement using chalk. It looks an utter mess. Would it be wrong of me to say something to the parents?” How did people respond? When Mumsnet shared the post on Facebook, social media users were quick to share their opinions, with the vast majority disagreeing with the woman’s stance. Many pointed out chalk can be easily washed off. One Facebook user said: “They’re probably the type to also moan that ‘kids today are just sat in front of a screen all day’.” Another said: “Yes. They’re children playing! It’s chalk, it will wash off when the rain comes.” A third shared: “During lockdown, my kids made an obstacle course outside our house. That year, on Christmas Eve we had a knock on the door from an elderly lady who'd bought the children some colouring books and pencils. She said that chalked pavement had brightened up her world on a day when she was very low. Be like her. They’re kids FFS.” While a fourth said: “Someone actually wants to moan about this?” Another added: “Yes it’s just chalk, get a grip.” Similarly, in the comments section beneath the post on Mumsnet, people again disagreed with the woman - although a small number did see where she was coming from. One Mumsnet user said: “I can kind of see a little of your point. On the one hand, it’s a cute, fun and creative thing for kids to be doing that gets them away from screens and encourages them to really fly free with their imagination - an absolute win and a [very] good thing. On the other, it can be annoying when you end up with coloured chalk on your shoes or furniture if you’ve not realised you’ve got it on the bottom of your trousers, or your dog has stepped in it etc.” They explained their dog had got chalk in the fur of his tail which “ended up all over [their] sofa, floors and rug” and added: “Kids should absolutely be encouraged to be creative but I also think it shouldn't lead to extra cleaning for other people.” And another shared how their husband would agree with the original poster as he was always unimpressed when children used chalk to draw in public areas. She said: “He used to get really annoyed at what he saw was the unsightly mess of chalk drawings on the pavements where we used to live. "I think it was partly because the pavements aren’t owned by those children - he thought they should do it on their own property (patio) rather than inflict it on him. But there you go - we all have little things that get on our nerves.” How did the woman respond? In a poll, 97 per cent of Mumsnet users said the woman was being unreasonable to consider asking her neighbours to stop their children using chalk to draw in front of her home. In a follow up comment, she said: “Okay, clearly there’s a strong disagreement… It does look a mess. But clearly I’m being harsh so I won’t approach my neighbour or argue with everyone on here.”