Want A Great Neighbor?

Your too busy, right? Everone is too busy. No time for anything let alone committing a bit of time to liven up the neighborhood.

So you are going to try this. (Please)...It is good for you and it won't make you tired or stinky (unless you get sprayed by a skunk)...

For two weeks (of nice warm weather)...go OUTSIDE and sit on your front porch (or whichever side faces the neighborhood).
Simple right?
Just sit and relax for 1 hour. Now watch and wait. You can make eye contact with some people, really it is ok. How about a simple hello. Yes that is right say Hello! (the person passing should be able to hear you (if your shy a little wave will do just as well).
(**Warning...during this time (and any other time) please refrain from trying to approach or pet the black and white fat 'cat-looking' creatures with the stripes, ok?..That may be the skunk your advised to avoid for this exercise to be pleasant :).

Back to being a neoighborly influence upon others....This sole act of making yourself relatively approachable and saying Hi There! to those who pass by will help stimulate the energy within the block. HONEST. You'll see.

People will begin to stroll by and take a glance. Some will think your crazy (that's ok, being the house with the crazy lady can be fun!) Others will pass by with a quick Hi!. One may invite himself over for a chat. And yes, on occasion one may overstay their welcome. (We can uncover saomr nice ways to deal with that at another time)

Here inour neighborhood, it is AMAZING how many of our neighbors end up on our front step (with us) each night in the summer. You would think we were giving something away. Really, it is not uncommon to see 5 couples and their kids playing, socializing and just waiting for the sun to go down.
There is nothing like it (and I really hope it stays this way!)

Here are a few really nice things to do that cost little or NO money and build a world of good between your neighbors and you. The concept is really quite simple...

First, pick a very simple 'holiday or just an ordinary day will do as well'.

Second, find an item, plant, card...just about anything to share with a neighbor.
Address in a nice way, such as 'I thought perhaps you may enjoy this' Kindly, (your name).

Third, welcome their little surprise in return. Nearly always does at least one or two neighbors return your gift with a nice thank you card or a division of their perennial plant or a batch of cookies of their own.

Here at our home....We currently bake batches of brownies, cut them up and place on plates and share them with our neighbors on a completely sporadic schedule. Each family gets a very welcome homemade treat. (YUM!)

Once you begin having little chats with neighbors regularly you will notice a wonderful and simple relationship has begun to emerge.
And the question is...
Now what?
Answer:
Well, you're neighbors.... so being neighborly should begin to come into play.

Here are a few examples to get you started:

Perhaps you have noticed that the elderly gentleman across the street simply struggles bending over to get his newspaper in his driveway each morning, while I won't recommend bringing it to his door unless he is ill (exercise is good for EVERYONE), you may consider putting it in his mailbox so bending (and possibly falling) is not necessary. Or offer to put a post where the paper can be placed by the delivery man.

Perhaps you have a neighbor who just had a baby. After ahs and coos the first two weeks or so....once the house seems calm, you may just want to drop off a small care package...an already cooked meal or a small treat for her.

Maybe you have a neighbor who is ALWAYS out in their garden, you may offer to water their garden while they are away for a weekend or divide a few of your plants and share with them; or even go to the garden center together. If you want to really make them feel welcome..ask them a question or for help in your garden. It is amazing how much people LOVE to share what they know about gardening!

Doing simple things with the people in close proximity to your home make you dependable, reliable and a person to be copied. In this situation copying is most certainly a form of flattery!

Perhaps there are oodles of kids in the neighborhood and nothing to do. really odd concept but it does happen and then you have destruction, and unruly groups of adolescents and teens (you may be thinking their parents will take care of it...my friend, your wrong. Their parents are working and no one is seeing what you see but you!) Remember it takes a village...so the saying says (and it really does).
.....On to my point, perhaps you have some neat game to share (not Nintendo or Playstation...but Bocci ball or Dodgeball;
or perhaps you have a lawn that can be mowed and you would like to pay one of them $5.00 to take care of that for you each week. (Permission from the parent for this one may be necessary).

Maybe you know of a great area they can ride their bikes...but they have to be responsible for all of the clean up within that area to be allowed to use it. ANY destruction...loss of cool area priviledge. (Build a responsible 'friendship' and they will tell you if something is going awry).

There are those who will migrate to you and others who will stay away and watch from afar. It's all good.

*Now your thinking TOO MUCH WORK. & these parents are going to call the police on you....Well yes, maybe; maybe not. Have the neighborhood relationship in place first...and I'll bet on NOT.

how do I know...
My husband and I didn't have children until I turned thrity. But I can tell you that in our early twenties for about 8 years, we were the people that 8-9 kids (age range of 12 - 18 came to). We listened. We didn't smoke, drink or close our door to them. We tell them is they were being inappropriate, but we allowed them to use our yard, if we found a bike in good shae, we would give it to them...if they didn't have enough players for basketball or paintball...we played.
frequently on weekend nights we all played 'Manhunt' (night time hide n seek' for those not aware of the country game)....We utilized the 4 yards on our side of the street. We always asked for permission first, and the neighbors were happy (most of the time)...

We did have a broken window once, a trampled garden once... and we stayed out past 10pm and received a complaint. But these complaints to us the adults allowed for correction. (By the way the 10pm thing was our fault...lost track of time REALLY!)
But the experiences allowed us to explain to these kids that we did cause the problem and the neighbor 'Doesn't Hate You...but we do need to repair the problem. (And yes they apologized to the neighbor & repaired the damage without complaint.)

Every neighborhood has one or more homes with fading paint, tall lawns, cluttered porches and may even be bordering on eyesore...

So what can you do to help the homeowner WITHOUT nit picking or being unkind?
Perhaps clarification should occur now...This must not be the kind of thing where your 'taste' and your neighbors 'taste' is not the same; as you have the meticulous lawn and beautiful 'Martha Stewart' porch...and your neighbor has the Wildlife Habitat Plaque on her door. This is not what I am speaking of.

I am talking unkept.

How to rectify...First, what are the people like? Are they elderly and in need of a wee bit of assistance? Is is a retal property with different people coming in and out with a very destructive mindset (NOT ALL RENTERS are this way mind you)
Maybe they just can't afford to remove the blue tarp from the roof because they don't have $20,000 for the new roof?

Once you can distinguish the person behind the 'sore'. Then you MAY be able to approach. NOT ALWAYS...but sometimes.
Creating a little community fix it up weekend is a great way to start. Invite this person to be part of a multi-house 'shabang' that includes a meal or picnic. Create a group of people who are willing to donate time and maybe even tools or unused equipment (how much paint, wood and sheet rock is in your garage??)
Use 2-3 weekends through out the summer (HAVE EVERYONE mark their calander) and pick ONE job per home to tackle.

The sharing of tools and knowledge of others in the neighborhood is a great way to make use of those stowed away items, pretty up the neighborhood, increase neighborhood morale and you may make a great friend in the process!