I thought my holiday lawn display was festive and fun until my neighbor’s kids treated it like a playground. Their mom didn’t care, so I had to get creative with a clever solution that left them all… sparkling.
Now that the holidays are over, and I’ve finally cleaned up the aftermath, I can tell this story. Honestly, I’m still a bit shocked at the lengths I had to take, but my neighbor truly didn’t leave me a choice.
This past December, I turned my front yard into a holiday wonderland. Reindeer with twinkle lights pranced across the lawn, an inflatable Santa waved at passersby, and a massive rainbow-lit sleigh took center stage.
I spent many days setting up, and I know most people would say that I went too far, especially because I don’t live in the most festive area. But every night, I enjoyed the glow from my living room, sipping cocoa and basking in the festive spirit. It was worth it.
One evening, I was distracted cleaning up my kitchen when I heard a crash.
Startled, I rushed to the window. To my surprise, my neighbor Linda’s kids, Ethan, Mia, and little Jacob were right outside, tearing through my yard like it was a playground…except they wanted to destroy everything in their path.
Ethan was 11, so he was old enough to understand what he was doing wrong. But still, he climbed into the sleigh and began shaking it for some reason. I didn’t know if he was trying to topple it or pretending to ride it.
Meanwhile, eight-year-old Mia yanked the lights off the reindeer, giggling. Finally, their little brother kicked at the inflatable Santa until it wobbled dangerously.
I couldn’t believe it. But the worst part was that their mother was sitting right on her porch, scrolling through her phone.
With a huff, I threw on my coat and marched outside. I tried to call the kids’ attention, but that was impossible, so I went to my neighbor.
“Linda!” I called, waving my arms to get her attention.
Her head barely lifted. “What?” she asked, irritated.
“Your kids are wrecking my decorations! Didn’t you see them?” I gestured at Ethan, who was now jumping up and down inside my sleigh. “Can you get them out of my yard?”
Linda glanced up, shrugged, and went back to her phone. “They’re just kids having fun. What’s the big deal?”
I gawked at her. “Excuse me? The big deal is that they’re destroying my property!”
After rolling her eyes, Linda finally met my gaze. “Maybe if your display wasn’t so flashy, it wouldn’t attract attention.”
My mouth dropped.
Her lips then curled into a smug smile. “Besides, you’re rich enough to fix it, aren’t you?”
Rich? Where did she get that idea? Sure, I had spent a pretty penny on the decorations, but that didn’t make me a millionaire. These items had been an investment toward my happiness for the season after a tough year.
Also, that wasn’t the point! Her kids didn’t have the right to damage other people’s property, even if I could afford to replace everything easily.
As I tried to calm myself, so I wouldn’t start yelling, Ethan jumped out of the sleigh, laughing. “Nice sleigh. Too bad it’s gonna fall over!”
He even kicked one of the reindeer for good measure.
Mia giggled some more. “Do that again!” she asked her brother and clapped as her eyes met mine. “You’ll just fix it,” she added. “You’re obsessed with that stuff!”
The rage coursing through me over mere yard decorations confirmed it: I had become one of those old people. But honestly, these kids were acting completely spoiled and entitled.
Still, yelling at them to “Get off my lawn!” wasn’t going to do me any good, so I took another deep breath, turning to my neighbor again.
“Linda, let’s be reasonable. I understand kids will be kids, but this is just plain disrespectful. Can you please do something?”
Linda snorted. “Can’t you see that I’m busy?” she raised her phone to emphasize her point. “It’s just decorations. Get over it. Besides, the kids are already on to something else.”
With that, she stood up and went into her house.
I turned and noticed she was right. Her children were off my lawn and onto someone else’s. But my decorations were skewed, and my inflatable Santa was now dirty with shoe marks from Jacob’s kicks.
After rearranging everything, I heard the three kids running back to their house and laughing. It was a taunting sound, but I hoped that one day of being rowdy was enough for them.
I was not so lucky.
The vandalism continued. Every night, Linda’s kids turned my decorations into chaos, and I didn’t always hear it. They had become sneaky. It was a game to them.
One morning, I found my sleigh tipped over. The lights on the reindeer were completely ruined, and my Santa was fully deflated.
Looking back at my security camera footage was heartbreaking. They were all laughing as they destroyed my hard work, their intentions clearly malicious. Well, maybe not little Jacob; he probably just followed his siblings’ lead. But it was still wrong.
I decided to confront Linda again. I marched over with my laptop, ready to show her the footage. “Look,” I said, hitting play. “This is your kids wrecking my yard. AGAIN.”
Linda smirked. “Cute video.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, outraged. “I could show this to our HOA or call the police!”
She barked a laugh. “Do whatever you need to do, sweetheart. It’s just decorations. They’ll laugh at you for making a fuss over something so ridiculous. Now, stop bothering me with these stupid things.”
She went back inside and slammed her door in my face.
That was it. I was done being nice about it. But what could I do? These were kids, after all, with an irresponsible mother. She was the one who needed to learn a real lesson.
I stared at my decorations and considered what I could do, and as the sun caught on the shiny red sleigh that I’d just righted, an idea struck.
An hour later, I emerged from the craft store, armed with industrial-strength spray adhesive and several tubs of glitter. Carefully, I took each of my decorations into the garage, which I’d covered in plastic as best I could, and used gloves as I went to work.
I meticulously coated every decoration, careful to match the original colors so nothing seemed amiss. Once suitably dry, I carefully transported the sleigh, the Santa, and the reindeer back to their places of honor in my yard.
I added another generous layer of spray adhesive, just to be sure. I also made a sign that read: “Caution: Property Protected by Holiday Magic!”
I went inside and waited. Sure enough, as soon as the sun set, I heard giggles. I peeked through the curtains and saw Ethan lead the charge, with Mia and Jacob close behind.
“Look at this stupid sign!” he laughed as he kicked it, making his siblings giggle even louder.
Then, they made a beeline for the sleigh.
Ethan climbed in and grabbed the glitter-coated reins. Mia ran her hands along the reindeer’s back, while Jacob tried to pull off one of the gift boxes near the base of the sleigh.
None of them noticed anything for a few seconds.
But then came an “Eww!”, swift and satisfying, like music to my ears.
“Why is this sticky?” Ethan yelped, pulling his hand back. “Ewww!”
Mia stared at her hands, now covered in glitter. “I’m shining!” she said, not seeming too upset, but I knew who would be soon.
Jacob, the youngest, frowned. “It won’t come off!” He rubbed his hands on his pants, only spreading the glitter further.
Ethan got out of the sleigh and noticed his clothes were also covered in glitter. He urged the others to go back to their house, and I heard them screaming, “Mom!”
With a steaming cup of hot cocoa in hand and a pashmina wrapped around my shoulders, I went out and sat on my porch.
It took only a few minutes for Linda to storm out. “What did you do?” she shrieked, pointing at her house where her kids waited, covered in glitter.
I shrugged. “I warned you, Linda. I had to protect my property.”
“You’re insane!” she yelled. “Do you know how hard it is to get glitter out of clothes? Out of the house?”
“Maybe if your kids hadn’t touched my stuff, they wouldn’t be covered in it,” I said, taking a sip of my cocoa
Linda huffed, muttering about my “pettiness” as she stomped back to her house.
Later that evening, I saw her dragging a vacuum cleaner out of her car from my window. I couldn’t help but chuckle.
It took them days to get rid of all the glitter. Justice, it seemed, came bright and shiny.
Her kids stayed clear of my yard from that day on, and surprisingly, other neighbors heard what I’d done and thanked me. Turns out, Linda’s kids had messed with their decorations too.
So, would I do it again? Absolutely.
And next Christmas, I’m going even bigger with my decorations. Just to spite Linda.