Do you socialize with you neighbors?

[Minnie824]

We live in a cul de sac... and lately, all of our neighbors are out socializing at night. I'm not saying theres anything wrong with this, but I was just wondering if anyone else does. After work, DH and I want to spend time with our kids, and we watch tv, play, etc. It seems like all of them are out with everyone else and not spending time with their family. Like I said, nothing wrong with this, and I'm not trying to start a debate, just seeing what others think.

 

[onecoolmama]

Nope I live on a cul de sac and I dont!

 

[grinningghost]

No. We have gone to a couple graduation parties of neighbors' kids, but that's about all.

I learned several years ago that socializing with your neighbors is sometimes a VERY bad idea. I've been gun shy of it ever since.

 

[monkeyboy]

sitting on the stoop




and then we egg Bob's house

 

[jx3smom]

No. I live in a resort town and a lot of our neighbors are only down on the weekends in the summer.

 

[caitycaity]

no because none of them speak english.

 

[Bob Slydell]

We just moved to a new neighborhood (a cul-de-sac as well) and it's the best thing we could have done. We love our neighbors and hang out with them all the time. Most of the families around us have kids similar age to DS, so he plays with the kids while the adults hang around and chat.

We've had nights out with the other couples in our neighborhood, we've had block parties for things like Halloween and we're planning a block picnic this summer. It's great!!

 

[monkeyboy]

Originally posted by Bob Slydell
We've had nights out with the other couples in our neighborhood,

 

[Bob Slydell]

Originally posted by monkeyboy


and then we egg Bob's house

I knew you were behind that!!!

 

[cati]

We use to, but not any more.

 

[tinaluis]

We do all the time and it's wonderful. In fact, tomorrow is our 8th annual block party which is quite an event. We're like one big happy family on our block. We're really going to miss that when we move to Florida but we definitely won't miss the horrible winters.

 

[Christine]

I live in a very anti-social neighborhood (not unfriendly, just not social). I would LOVE to socialize with my neighbors AND with my kids.

 

[Annette_VA]

Yep. Our best friends used to live 2 doors down - we did stuff together all the time. But, then the moved to FL

Now, there's about 4 or 5 houses on this end of the street where we'll all hang out & the kids will play.

 

[tkyes]

No, but I hope we will a little more in our new neighborhood.

Everyone in our current neighborhood is older than us, by quite a bit, and we really don't have anything in common.

Our new neighborhood has couples all around our age.

 

[Sandy V.]

Very rarely. I live on a cul-de-sac with a long street (8 houses total). We do a progressive Holiday dinner in December and keep an eye out for each other's houses when someone is on vacation, but we don't see much of each other otherwise except when we go out to grab our morning newspapers.

At the end of a long work day, my home and family are my sanctuary. I'm usually too tired to want to share either with anyone else!

 

[septbride2002]

We socialize with one set of neighbors wave2: Susan) who are as into Disney as we are so they are a great group to hang out with. But they are really the only ones. We don't have kids yet though. My SIL lives a community a lot like yours and she says while most of the time it is great there are times when she would like to be left alone. She says she can't go out into the backyard without someone seeing her and coming over.

~Amanda

 

[Disney Doll]

I have 2 sets of neighbors that I socialize with a lot, because we have a lot in common. Our neighbors right next door have small kids and we don't have as much in common, but they are nice folks and we say hi and watch out for each others' houses etc. I don't dislike them at all, they are just busy wit their kids' activites and such, so there's not as much time for socialization.The ones diagonally behind me are idoits and I ignore them.

 

[mickeyboat]

We do on occasion. All of our kids are different ages so not too often. But we have gatherings every once in a while with some of our neighbors.

This Spring our neighbors from Iceland had an anniversary party. We got a sitter and went dressed in tropical attire. Towards the end of the evening, after several pina coladas, they brought out a jar of something that looked like pickled herring. They said basically that they only offered this to their good friends and that eating it was a sign of true friendship. How do you say no to that when you are a little tipsy? After all, it's an Icelandic delicacy.

So they stabbed a piece of fish with a toothpick and handed it to me. Ever smelled a port-a-potty? This fish was shark - cured in its own juices. It was terrible. But as a true friend, I ate it. I washed it down with "fire water" a very potent liqueur from Iceland. (Those Icelanders sure know how to drink, must be how they survive the winter).

So, I almost lost my pina coladas! It was terrible. I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth for some time.

Don't trust an Icelander with fish on a stick!

Denae

 

[Robmom]

I've been living in my neighborhood for about 8 years and I don't really socialize with any of my neighbors. I really want to, but for some reason I feel like I don't fit in. My next door neighbor's kids are much younger than my DD (11), so I don't have much in common with them. I pretty much just say hello to my neighbors and that's about it. It's kind of depressing because I really want to fit in and after so long, it's kind of hard to start trying again!

 

[tkd lisa]

Depends on what you mean by socialize.

With most of our neighbors, we speak on a general level. About 3 of us have kids in the same age, and the kids are together a lot, in and out of each others houses, etc. But the adults usually just chat in the yards. We will take in mail for each other, etc. But we don't just pop into each other's houses for a cup of coffee.

If any of us are outside, we'll usually chat for a while. It seems like once you're in the house, it's off-limits.