A woman has sparked debate after complaining about the "utter mess" her neighbour's children have made with chalk drawings on a shared footpath. The woman, who turned to Mumsnet for advice, said the children have been drawing on the pavement for the past week, and she is considering speaking to their parents to discourage them.
The issue centres on a communal area outside her row of houses. She wrote: "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."
Social media users react
When Mumsnet shared the post on Facebook, the overwhelming majority of social media users sided against the woman. Many pointed out that chalk is easily washed away. 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 added: "Yes. They're children playing! It's chalk, it will wash off when the rain comes."
A third user shared a story from lockdown, saying: "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."
Mixed opinions on Mumsnet
While most Mumsnet users disagreed with the woman, a small number sympathised with her viewpoint. One user wrote: "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."
Another user explained that her husband would sympathise with the original poster, as he was often displeased when children used chalk to draw in public spaces. 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."
Poll shows strong disagreement
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 subsequent comment, she stated: "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."
