When you have a pool in your backyard, it is nice to have some privacy from your neighbors.

What would you do if you moved into a home with a pool, but your next-door neighbor would always stand on something and look into your yard when you were out there so he could see and talk to you?

That is what happened to the young woman in this story, and she is tired of feeling uncomfortable at her own pool, but she doesn’t know how to stop it.

While difficult, I think she needs to talk to the neighbor and tell him to stop it. If he doesn’t, she can report it to the police. Read through the full story below and see what you think she should do.

Elderly neighbor stands on a bucket to peer over our block fence into our yard, how do we get him to stop

So, my family (me 28F, niece 21F, mom 65F, dad 68M), bought & moved to the Southwest suburbs back in February.

The neighbor seemed friendly at first.

The houses are close, but we have tall 6ftish concrete block privacy walls. We have a pool and our neighbor doesn’t. He’s an elderly guy in his 70s or 80s who lives next door with his wife, his granddaughter, 2 dogs, and another couple who rents the other half of the house.

He comes and goes all day and we always give him a polite wave out front, at first I thought he was just lonely and being neighborly but now it’s just getting annoying, rude and borderline weird.

It seems like he might have some mental issues.

He has made a habit of dragging a Home Depot bucket or overturned flower pot to the wall to peek directly over into our yard.

It’s gotten ridiculously uncomfortable. Twice now when my niece, my mom, and I were swimming in our pool, his head popped over the wall asking questions about who we were and where my dad was, does he like to swim etc.

This is creepy.

My mom, unfortunately and stupidly, blurted out my name, that my dad swims, and even where my dad works, and that he was working that exact day.

Other times, I’ll just be laying on our outdoor couch trying to close my eyes and relax, and suddenly a head pops up staring at me.

She is being made to feel very uncomfortable.

Once, when I was outside on an important phone call, I accidentally made eye contact with him hovering over the wall and looked away to keep talking, and he actually went to my mom later to COMPLAIN that “he SAW that your daughter saw me,” like I’m obligated to entertain him.

Most recently, my mom and I were sitting on the patio decompressing, and his head popped up to interrupt us and ask her, “who is this fine little lady 😏” about me, even though I’ve been introduced to him multiple times and my mom just said oh that’s “my name” and I didn’t even turn around because I didn’t feel like talking to him and do not want to.

There is no reason that she should have to put up with this.

I was literally in the middle of a conversation. I’ve never spoken to him before and literally just ignore him, if someone else is outside with me they’ll speak to him, but I don’t.

Now I find myself tip toeing around my own patio so he doesn’t hear me outside, opening and closing the door very quietly so he doesn’t hear it and come running outside

She should talk to him and tell him to stop looking over the wall.

It makes me sick and second guess if I want to go out, that I can’t even close my eyes by my own pool without waiting for his head to pop up over the wall and someone start asking me questions or even looking at everything in my yard!

Unsure if there’s any privacy things/shades that can be done?

It will be uncomfortable, but she needs to tell the guy to stop being a creeper. Some people just don’t realize that they make others uncomfortable until they are told.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this difficult situation.

He really is being creepy.

Here is someone with a bunch of good ideas.

Yup, this is really the best option.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who got fed up with all of the cars parking illegally on his vacation land, so he had them all towed.

This commenter says her mom needs to stop being so friendly.

A wooden lattice could solve the problem.

She or her parents need to confront this creepy old man. If they keep ignoring it, he will never change.