Won't you be...my Neighbor?

Three or so days a week we have a sitter. She stays with the kids, helps them do their chores, takes them to the pool, makes countless pb&j sandwiches, and referees arguments over Scrabble. On the surface, things look peaceful. But behind the scenes, I'm training her to be a ninja!

Before you make any jokes about my kids and how they need a NINJA-nanny, let me explain. We live in a townhouse. It's a nice townhouse, in a quiet area, and for the most part, we have nice neighbors. But there are, like everywhere else, problems. We've had a few break-ins in the past couple of years, and lately have had trouble with older kids trespassing and jumping the fence to get to our pool. I want to make sure that the kids are aware...not afraid...aware of their surroundings. Keep the back door locked, check in every ten minutes when you go out to play, let the sitter answer the phone, little things like that. I don't want the kids, or the sitter, to constantly be suspicious, but I'm trying to train them to "be prepared." I want them all to be on guard, be aware, that bad things happen even in the best neighborhoods, and while they shouldn't be scared to go outside, they should take precautions. These are things I'm always teaching the kids, but last week, we went a bit more into "spy mode."

Last week, when I was pulling out to go to work, I noticed a man, a creepy man, loitering. He would walk around in and out of the trees, then I'd see him behind the back fences, just lurking. This made me nervous. I turned around and came back home, and warned the sitter to keep the kids inside for awhile, till she could see he was gone. I called home as soon as I got to work, and of course everything was fine, but all day, I had a knot in my stomach. All day I worried. Think I called home like thirty times!

Today I saw him again. This time, I was angry. I followed him. (I know, it might not have been the smartest thing to do, but they don't call me "chicken hawk" for nuthin'!) While stalking the stalker, I called my dad and he came over. I was a little afraid to go to work, honestly. I warned my other neighbors, the ones who stay home during the day, of this suspicious lurking man. Dad drove over, and he and I confronted the man. "Do you have business here?"

The man said that he lived "right over there" and was tired of his neighbors being robbed, so he had appointed himself "Neighborhood watch." Our association had decided that those watches just aren't effective, so this man, who had recently lost his job, decided HE would take on the task single-handedly. "You scared the be-jesus out of me!" I was still a little angry. "Haven't you seen me," he asked, "I've been out here watching a week now." I answered, "And I've been watching YOU for a week!"

We both laughed and I felt marginally better. (I say "marginally" because I'm still a little wary. And he still looks a little creepy.) It's got me to thinking though. Do we even know our neighbors? And shouldn't we?

I must confess, I know some, but not many. We have townhouses that are rented, and renters come and go. But I don't even know all the owners. What if someone was watching ME this morning? From the outside looking in, I must have looked like a lunatic, creeping around behind creepy-guy. I think our association is wrong in their assumption that neighborhood-watches don't work. I think they do. Neighbors looking out for neighbors...seems pretty basic to me.

Our world has certainly changed. You know, used to be, neighbors would come over and help you build your barn. I remember my Grandma sending me to her neighbor's house to borrow a stick of butter or a cup of sugar. When I was little, we never sent our dog to a kennel...our neighbor would just come over and take care of him till we were back. Seems we've kinda lost track of this neighborly mentality. If you live in a neighborhood and still have this relationship with your neighbors, count your blessings. If you're like me, and know a few, but not many, of your neighbors, then we've got some work to do.

At work, I don't have this problem. When I opened the store, I filled a basket with goodies, (NO, I didn't dress up like Red Riding Hood!) and walked around introducing myself. I just thought it would be neighborly to let the people who lived around here know who I am and what I'm doing. A young man who lives in the house across from my store keeps a watch on my shop for me, and comes over to chat sometimes. His mom owns the house, he lives there until they can sell it, and he said to me, "Here's my info in case you ever need it." I thought that was extremely nice.

When I get home, I am going to start an email chain. It wouldn't take very much work to send out a monthly email about news in the nieghborhood, or new tenants, or just introductions. Or maybe make a facebook page. Something, anything. I think we should all know who our neighbors are. Since I'm the crazy lady who didn't even know who my neighbor was, I'll go first. I'll get it started. Being neighborly is the right thing to do. (Knowing who they even are probably would help!)