Retirement is supposed to bring peace and quiet, not a daily front yard invasion of elementary school kids playing ball near your cars.

One homeowner has been dealing with the exact situation since his own children grew up and moved out, watching his once-quiet property turn into an unofficial neighborhood sports field.

Basketball, football, baseball- it rotates, but the outcome stays the same: 5 to 7 kids screaming, cursing at each other, and occasionally ringing the doorbell to retrieve a ball that somehow landed 70 feet into his backyard.

He’s tried being reasonable, but with some parents unreachable and others simply indifferent, he’s left with few remaining options.

Keep reading for the full story.

5-7 Elementary Age School Kids Playing In My Yard and Around My Cars

Does anybody have any suggestions on what I should do about the neighborhood children playing in my front area and near my cars?

All of my children are grown, they’ve gone off to college. They’ve moved into their own homes, and so now it’s just me at home enjoying my pre-retirement.

This homeowner has already tried several reasonable approaches, but none of them have worked.

Every single day I have a front yard full of elementary age children playing ball, whether it is basketball, football, and yes, baseball.

I have spoken to two of the children’s parents. I remind the children on a daily basis not to play around my house and cars.

He doesn’t like how it makes him feel, but he has real concerns that no one else seems to be paying attention to.

It has gotten to the point where I feel like I am being a grinch or a law enforcement officer, but here’s the thing, these children don’t play at their own homes. This happens every day!

For example, my fence is at least 70 feet away from the street, and the boys will ring my doorbell asking me to retrieve their baseball from my backyard. They could have easily caused damages.

It’s starting to really impact his enjoyment of his own home.

Every day at least 5 to 7 elementary children are outside my house, screaming while playing, cursing each other out, and disturbing my peace.

Please give me some suggestions on what to do to fix this situation. Keep in mind that some parents are not approachable and every parent doesn’t care.

I bought my house 12 years ago, and I am not in a position to move.

It’s a tough situation, but all hope isn’t lost.

This commenter has some clever suggestions.

Why not create some structure from the chaos?

Or why not enlist someone else to do the dirty work?

Or maybe getting the cops involved is the right call.

Talking to the parents didn’t work. Reminding the kids daily didn’t work. At some point, being the one adult on the block who actually enforces a boundary starts to feel like a full-time, unpaid job.

He’s not wrong to want quiet on his own property after twelve years of ownership, and he’s not wrong to be tired of repeating himself to kids who clearly aren’t hearing it at home either.

Some parents just don’t care, and no amount of politeness changes that fact.

Playing the bad guy isn’t always fun, but it gets results.