for those with children...

[Sara Noel]

I've been doing some thinking about our neighborhood. We live in the suburbs and on a street with all over 55 yr olds and mostly over 70 yr olds. There are two homes with kids. One has older teens and the other has about age 10ish.

I've been thinking about how much of my childhood was spent with neighborhood friends. I was always outside playing with them. I've been thinking who are my kids going to play with?

I realize they'll make their own little friends in school and in their activities etc, but when they come home...there aren't any kids here in the neighborhood. I find it sad.

Gabe says with all the over 70 yr olds (some are even over 80 and 90) , that soon the entire street will change and there will probably be nothing but families with kids. I'm not so sure.

Are there a lot of kids in your neighborhood for your children to play with?

[graci42]

I know what you mean...alot of older folks here, too.

There is a demon child next door, but she is 4...my dd is 13 and myds is almost 9...there are a few kids a block away but I did some checking and a sex offender lives a few blocks down from ds's buddy...NO WAY!

I grew up on a farm without alot of kids to play with...but I always had my dts...dear twin sister...so I never noticed!

[aylasmommy]

yeah there are lots of kids around ayla's age here, and most of them have mom's that stay at home too, so it's great! We also have a little park and a pool here so during good weather we always run into someone else (well almost always) for her to play with even if only for a short while.

[Missy]

well, yes and no. There is a school just down the road some, and it seems busting with kids, but Erick is not school age yet. When we go walking, re really don't seem many kids at all. Especially Erick and Hannah's age. The neighbors right across the street have older kids, like 5th grade and up, and other than them i haven't noticed any kids around at all. Erick and Hannah do get alot of time with other kids his age at mom's meetings and church though.

[AmyBoz]

We are the last house on a dead end street and on the other side of the street is a park, so there are constantly children to play with. There are also quite a few children who actually live on our street, but we haven't really met them since we were always at work. Hopefully that will change now that I'm home.

[simplemom]

We are lucky Sara...we live in a town where the average family has 3 to 4 kids here! Our street is a Crescent shape and when I count all the kids I know just on my street, there are 31 kids at least! Imagine! I'm glad my boys have lots of kids to play with, but there is one little problem which arises sometimes....some parents get into little arguements over the kids' little disputes....*sigh* I have been living here over 10 years and some weeks I have dreamed to live in the woods all alone. lol But most times it's fun. There is always a gang here, practically all year long....if it's not one friend, it's another or all of them! Maybe that's why, I often dream of peace and quiet here....which is just a dream for now, I guess.

Gabe could be right...if the neighbours are older, eventually younger families might be buying the houses soon (if they eventually move of coarse) and hopefully there will be more kids to play with yours.

I myself, growing up, had tons of kids to play with in my street and neighbourhood and I have great memories of the fun we had playing outside...

[PrairieRose]

When I grew up on this street there were about 18 kids on the block. When my dk's grew up on this street there were only 5. Now there aren't any kids around here. It would be nice for your kids if they had friends on the street but along with that would come the inevitable scurmishes as well...... . I tend to agree with Gabe that things will change in your neighborhood, but maybe not as soon as you'd like for them to.

[guest2]

Sara,
Maybe I can encourage you a bit. We live in a tiny town and the kids can all get to each other. We have a park right down the street from us and the boys go there quite a bit. One of my son's best friends lives next door to us. He and Chris spend every moment they can together. Chris is up with him in the field right now. Chris is 14 and Uncle Bob is in his 60's and retired. Whenever you want to find Bob, look for Chris and vice versa. It's been this way for years now. Bob takes the boys fishing, camping and all over the place with him and his wife Aunt Norma. Bob has often said that our boys are like grandsons to him. Bob was gone for about 6 weeks on a trip and Chris had a rough time. He missed him so much!!!! Luckily they got home last night and Chris about flew out of the truck when Jeff was pulling into the driveway when he saw Bob's truck and fifth wheel. Maybe there are some older people in your neighborhood who would love to spend some time with your kids. Bake some cookies and take them over. You never know when you will be blessed with a wonderful Uncle Bob and Aunt Norma like we are.

[Jerseygirl]

I grew up in a little shore community where people moved to their summer houses when they retired. Houses in the winter were either empty or full of retired folk. It was wonderful-my best friend growing up was a retired artist, she was my babysitter at 4, was always home and waving to me in the window when I passed by on my way home from school, her house was where I went at 15 when I fought with my parents, and by the time I was 22 I was named her medical guardian and had to make the hardest decisions of both of our lives. By the time I was in school there were a bunch of young families moving in and many of them stayed and we grew up together, but much of who I am today and the things I remember and appreciate most were things that happened with my retired friends.----Kellie

[CatherineID]

I'm a grandmother raising my 2.5-yr old granddaughter. We have three close neighbors who have grandchildren the same age who visit frequently. We have one mom who has a son about DGD's age but because they're both young and the mom works, we don't see him much.

When I was growing up I went to a private school so I didn't become close friends with the kids in my neighborhood. My schoolmates were spread out all over town. It wasn't a big deal because I didn't know any different. I turned out okay.

[AmyMCGS]

When I was growing up my neighborhood was a perfect mix~ a few older couples who were like adopted grandparents to us (and still are) and then several families with kids our age. Now, as a few of the older couples have moved to Florida or passed away, the neighborhood is again full of younger kids, the ages of my youngest sisters. It's weird how it worked out that way.

[Katybird]

The street we live on was virtually childless when we moved here. There were my children and one other family with children for a total fo 5 kids on a long road. In the 6 1/2 years we have lived here, there have been homes built and all have children and several homes have been sold and bought by younger families with children, there are probably 30+ kids now. The neighborhood is just alive with childrens laughter after school and on the weekends.