A woman who recently moved into a new home with a swimming pool is at her wit’s end with her neighbors for allowing their children to use her private pool without her permission. The 32-year-old shared her story on Reddit’s AITA sub, asking if she was in the wrong for not being okay with the kids coming over uninvited, as her neighbor certainly thinks she is.
- The kids keep hopping the woman’s fence to use the pool. As OP explained, she often comes home or looks into her backyard to find that the neighbor’s kids have invited themselves in for a swim. “I keep finding neighbor’s kids using our pool having hopped our fence and I keep getting them to leave,” she shared.
- The kids’ parents really don’t seem to care. While OP has attempted to talk to the parents about the kids’ behavior, she hasn’t received the response she’d hoped for. “I’ve spoken to their parents about this issue and they have told me that the older couple we bought the house from would let the kids use the pool in exchange for cleaning it so they’re just used to being able to use it,” she explained. “I told them it was fine when it was the last neighbor but it’s something my wife and I are not comfortable with as we don’t know them well enough plus if the kids were hurt we’d feel awful about it.”
- The woman’s request was totally reasonable but the neighbor wasn’t having it. Instead of respecting the woman’s wishes for her own private property, instead, the kids’ parents “insisted their kids wouldn’t get hurt” and again asked if the kids could use the pool when OP and her wife weren’t because “they’re just kids” and the weather is getting warmer.
- Again, OP pushed back. She told the neighbor that if the kids wanted to swim, they should get their own pool as she and her wife aren’t comfortable with the arrangement. “Ever since then I’ve had to chase the kids away a couple more times and their parents are constantly sending me dirty looks whenever they see me,” OP shared. “I’ve since posted a sign stating it’s a private pool and can only be used with permission.”
- Sensibly, most people were on OP’s side. “You know those parents would sue you into the next century if the kids got so much as a scrape,” one person wrote. Another suggested: “Tell them if you find their kids in your pool again you are going to file a trespassing against them with the police. They are not entitled to use your pool whenever they want, plain and simple.” A third person put it best: “Your pool, your property, your privacy, your liability, your decision. The arrangements they may have had with the previous owners are totally irrelevant.”
