J
JJBlue
Guest
I’m sorry if this is so long, just trying to get good advice from you great people of God. The summary is: We live on a strict budget, (hubby is a teacher), have two special needs twins, four sons altogether, very stressful daily walk and our vain, materialistic neighbors have gossiped and degraded us for toys in our front yard. They are a self-appointed home owners association of 15 or so home on our street, nothing at all official. Most are retired and quite well-off. We have tolerated their anti-children attitude quite well until they placed a “please clean up your yard and plastic toys off your driveway” note in our mailbox this week.
The long version:
We have lived in this home the past 3 years. We bought it for way under value and have done major repairs and updates internally, furnace, paint, all new landscaping for front yard, updated bathroom etc. Shortly after moving here we were given a huge challenge, our then 3 yr old twins were found to have special needs. I stay at home with our four sons and hubby is a Catholic School teacher. We reacted quickly with our twins and found as much help and resources as we could to try and intervene in their development. We have come so far in the past 3 years but it has been very hard living. Old cars, no vacations very strict budget, used clothes, furniture etc. Our sons have benefited by the archdiocese health care plan, 7 surguries, and all the costs of diagnosing and suppoting therapy to help them grow. It’s a full time exhausting job to parent them well and keep our life from coming unglued. We have grown so deep in our faith and to one another during this struggle because we have found that peace which can only come from knowing and living through Christ. Doing what’s right, living with much sacrifice. The home we purchased is on an upscale street. Our investment here will pay off greatly if we ever sell. We have found in our struggle that vanity and materialism is very popular with our neighbors. New cars, one year four of the neighbors bought their wives hot tubs for the back yard. These folks are in a whole other time in their lives, retired in their fifties, vacations and lots of time on their hands. We realize how our life here is richly blessed with the gifts of our children, our faith and a daily request for our needs to be cared for. You may understand now when I tell you that we have received two notes in our mailbox regarding toys in our front yard and on the driveway. Our backyard kind of dives off into woods and we have a very nice large flat front yard so the boys are usually playing there. We started a project last summer involving retaining walls and some of those blocks are still in our side yard, they weigh about 70 pounds each. Hubby has been working, going to school full time to try to change jobs for a better income. Our twins have trouble with transition. We have felt that with starting Kindergarten in the fall that moving and “cashing in” on our investment would be tough for them and it would be very difficult to buy a home in this neighborhood for our large family to move in to. We already have IEP’s and special educators in place for next school year and our older children are growing roots in our catholic grade school each year, they will be in 2nd and 3rd grade next year.
Oh, I’m really rambling, and under hubby’s name even. I just am so upset. I would love to build storage for the boys toys. There are about 5 little ride on cars, a sand box, a basketball net and during the summer a swimming pool. No trashy toys etc. I would love to update and paint the outside of the house but at what sacrifice? Me going back to work when these boys are going to need me the most? Why is it when you living as we are and know that we have our priorities very squared away that we are under attack? Don’t they know that we would love to only be worried about toys left out in the yard? I know the gossip machine on this street works overtime and I have shared some of our families struggles with some of these folks… Oh, please pray for us. Please pray the we have strenghth and are courageous in the face of all this poop.
Thank you for listening.
The long version:
We have lived in this home the past 3 years. We bought it for way under value and have done major repairs and updates internally, furnace, paint, all new landscaping for front yard, updated bathroom etc. Shortly after moving here we were given a huge challenge, our then 3 yr old twins were found to have special needs. I stay at home with our four sons and hubby is a Catholic School teacher. We reacted quickly with our twins and found as much help and resources as we could to try and intervene in their development. We have come so far in the past 3 years but it has been very hard living. Old cars, no vacations very strict budget, used clothes, furniture etc. Our sons have benefited by the archdiocese health care plan, 7 surguries, and all the costs of diagnosing and suppoting therapy to help them grow. It’s a full time exhausting job to parent them well and keep our life from coming unglued. We have grown so deep in our faith and to one another during this struggle because we have found that peace which can only come from knowing and living through Christ. Doing what’s right, living with much sacrifice. The home we purchased is on an upscale street. Our investment here will pay off greatly if we ever sell. We have found in our struggle that vanity and materialism is very popular with our neighbors. New cars, one year four of the neighbors bought their wives hot tubs for the back yard. These folks are in a whole other time in their lives, retired in their fifties, vacations and lots of time on their hands. We realize how our life here is richly blessed with the gifts of our children, our faith and a daily request for our needs to be cared for. You may understand now when I tell you that we have received two notes in our mailbox regarding toys in our front yard and on the driveway. Our backyard kind of dives off into woods and we have a very nice large flat front yard so the boys are usually playing there. We started a project last summer involving retaining walls and some of those blocks are still in our side yard, they weigh about 70 pounds each. Hubby has been working, going to school full time to try to change jobs for a better income. Our twins have trouble with transition. We have felt that with starting Kindergarten in the fall that moving and “cashing in” on our investment would be tough for them and it would be very difficult to buy a home in this neighborhood for our large family to move in to. We already have IEP’s and special educators in place for next school year and our older children are growing roots in our catholic grade school each year, they will be in 2nd and 3rd grade next year.
Oh, I’m really rambling, and under hubby’s name even. I just am so upset. I would love to build storage for the boys toys. There are about 5 little ride on cars, a sand box, a basketball net and during the summer a swimming pool. No trashy toys etc. I would love to update and paint the outside of the house but at what sacrifice? Me going back to work when these boys are going to need me the most? Why is it when you living as we are and know that we have our priorities very squared away that we are under attack? Don’t they know that we would love to only be worried about toys left out in the yard? I know the gossip machine on this street works overtime and I have shared some of our families struggles with some of these folks… Oh, please pray for us. Please pray the we have strenghth and are courageous in the face of all this poop.
Thank you for listening.
Ok, so I’m kidding with that one.
).
