A woman who complained about her neighbour's children drawing on a shared footpath with chalk has been told to "get a grip" after social media users sided against her. The woman, who described the drawings as an "utter mess," had asked for advice on Mumsnet about whether she should approach the parents.
Complaint over shared footpath
In her post, the woman explained that she lives in a row of houses with a footpath running in front of the road, with grassed areas on either side. She said one neighbour's two children had been drawing on the pavement with chalk for the past week.
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. It looks an utter mess. Would it be wrong of me to say something to the parents?"
Social media reaction
When the post was shared on Facebook, users largely disagreed with the woman, pointing out that chalk can easily be washed off. One user said: "They're probably the type to also moan that 'kids today are just sat in front of a screen all day'." Another commented: "Yes. They're children playing! It's chalk, it will wash off when the rain comes."
A third user shared a personal story: "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."
A fourth user asked: "Someone actually wants to moan about this?" while another added: "Yes it's just chalk, get a grip."
Mixed views on Mumsnet
Comments on Mumsnet also largely disagreed with the woman, although a small number saw her point. One user acknowledged both sides: "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."
The user explained that their dog had got chalk in the fur of his tail which "ended up all over [their] sofa, floors and rug," adding: "Kids should absolutely be encouraged to be creative but I also think it shouldn't lead to extra cleaning for other people."
Another user said her husband would agree with the original poster, as he was always unimpressed when children used chalk 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."
Woman's response
In a poll, 97 per cent of Mumsnet users said the woman was being unreasonable to consider asking her neighbours to stop their children drawing 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."
