A few months ago, I made a decision to myself that I was going to try to be less judgmental. People make mistakes. They learn from them. They move on. But every now and then, I run into a hurdle, and if you knew me in junior high school, you would know that I could never jump those hurdles. I am not a jumper.
Recently my judgment has been put to the test. And I am going to lay out my judgmentalism right here, right now: Why are teenagers so annoying!? Do the hormones make them stupid?!
I don’t know how many teenagers live next door to us, but on any given day, we can find 4 - 20 of them out in the yard. When the storm hit really hard, at least one girl runs out in the rain, shrieking really hard like she never had a shower before. The boys block our driveway with their car, but at least they are nice enough to ask if we need them to move it. When their is a lot of them, they turn on music and dance in the middle of the cul-de-sac. Mostly, I have been rolling my eyes and thinking to myself that they will outgrow this. But yesterday, actions drove me to finally saying something.
Nikki had started barking. Woof! Woof! WOOF! Woof! She was really bothered by something going on outside the window. Nikki is also a force to be reckoned with in some people’s eyes, because she is a black dog, and even though she is one of the sweetest dogs you probably ever meet, people tend to be scared of her. So, I was collecting laundry, and I look out the window to see what she is barking at. Someone walking along the street who passed by our house. (Our yard is not fenced, btw.) Or maybe she saw a squirrel. I look out there and three girls and a guy are walking along the fence. But, as I look more, they aren’t walking. They are loitering. In my yard. Nikki continues to bark, and they either don’t hear it or ignore her. She is in the house, after all.
I watch these kids a few minutes. They are grabbing each other. Tickling each other. They are running through our yard like it is an extension of their fenced property, though I think they may have been trying to be out of view of the parents of the house. Fed up with Nikki’s barking, I decided to ask them to take their hormonal selves out of my yard. Yes, hormones. As I open the door, the guy has tickled one of the girls so much, that she is on the ground and he is sitting on top of her. She is squeeling at the top of her lungs, making it obvious that she is probably the one who runs in the rain shrieking. I don’t know where the other two girls went.
I put Nikki on her tie out line. I hold onto it, and open the door. Nikki lunges a little, wanting to go play and see what all the excitement is away. And I said in a firm voice, “Can you please go someplace else and do that? My dog thinks you are attacking each other.”
I got an eye roll. The girl said, “I guess” in a flat, obstinate voice. Then they took it to the front yard where they toned it down a whole heck of a lot!
However, this has helped me to realize a few things:
- I am the mean old lady next door.
- Even though I don’t have kids, I can still sound like my mother.
- Sounding like my mother isn’t that bad. Why do people have a problem with this?
Not only is it hormones, it’s also the fact that their brains are not fully formed yet. That’s a fact; look it up.
You might be the mean old lady next door, but now you understand why the mean old lady next door was so mean.
Why you gotta be so bitchy yo?
The screamer is suffering from “Look at me” Syndrome. It doesn’t even end when she gets pregnant because then it turns into a whole new drama!
I used to go to the window and act like I was taking pictures. Then I’d tell them I was going to call the cops and now I have photographic evidence. That put an end to it pretty damn quickly.
I just don’t like teenagers. I wouldn’t have even asked nicely. I would have said - get out of my yard or give me 1600$ for my mortgage. If they didn’t leave - I call the cops.
(the money thing always works)
I’d have been right there with ya- or probably have done worse.
When my kids were young, I disliked teen-agers. When they became teen-agers, it helped me remember a few things about being that age… Peer pressure, hormones, parent pressure, schoolwork pressure, getting a license/car pressure, 1st part time job pressure, and then you get a zit! When kids are screwing around, I ask myself; Are they damaging anything? Are they annoying me on purpose? Does it look like this is going to last a long time? All of those will get me involved- otherwise I figure, this too will pass…
We’d be good friends if we lived near each other.
Buy my place. We don’t have nuts like that around here (well, except for that bitch down the street).
You acted a whole lot nicer than I would of. But you definately did the right thing. Someone has to teach them how to behave.