WHERE ARE YOUR CHILDREN AND CALL THEM BY NAME!

It's been a few days since I've written. That, of course, doesn't mean that nothing is going on. I've just been busy with summer projects.

My beloved screen porch is now clean! Last year's rummage items have finally found new homes, ok, so it was the trashcan. I can sit there sipping my Diet Coke and playing games on my laptop or reading and listening to my new MP3 player (my birthday gift to myself). Ah, so relaxing...until. Until those neighbor kids come outside.

Now, mind you, my parents live across the street on the opposite corner of our block. They have a fenced yard with plenty to keep the grandkids busy. They have a fire pit that we love to use for smores. The fence is a privacy type that is about four feet tall. Yes, that is significant, just be patient.

Next door to them, is a yellow house. That's were those kids live. On the side of the yellow house, opposite my parents, are some really great people. They have dogs, like us, and had a three foot tall picket fence. Their daughter graduated from high school this year and they did the "crazy graduation parent" thing and spruced up their already beautiful home. They replaced their fence in the process. It always amazed me that their dogs had no desire to jump that short fence. Unlike those kids. They now have a SIX foot tall privacy fence.

Behind my parent's home and these other houses is an alley. A bumpy and rutty alley, but well used, nonetheless. We take that route often to come home after dropping Grandma off.

The property behind the yellow house with those kids is owned by a sweet young couple with two small children. They have ample play equipment, as we did when the kids were little. They haven't been in the neighborhood long, but longer than those kids. About two months ago, when it was time for them to put up their quick set, huge pool, I noticed some holes. They now have a beautiful privacy fence. It's about six feet tall.

We have a fence, as do our next door neighbors. Our fenced areas are in the back of our properties. They aren't the privacy variety, but they do well keeping our dogs corralled.

So, if you have been paying attention, the yellow house has about five neighbors. All have fences. Three are privacy and two have been installed since those kids descended on our neighborhood. Aren't you curious as to why?

The oldest child is about nine and a boy. Next, is another boy that is about six, followed by a girl that is probably four or five. They can be cute. Not when they are standing on a chair by my parents fence observing our cookouts. Not really cute when they sneak into Mom and Dad's back yard and leave the gate open so the puppy gets out. Reaching through a picket fence to torment dogs isn't especially cute either. Playing in the alley neighbors sandbox when no one is home isn't exactly cute.

Now, here's the kicker. Obviously, it's really hard to blame the kids. It's also kind of hard to enjoy my screen porch. When the parents are watching those kids. They get called everything but their names. We have screeches of "You dumb@##, get out of the road!" and the like. Now, I know that God wants us to love others, and I do my very best. At this point, I have decided to love them because they have brought many new decorative fences to our neighborhood. Can you blame me?