I called the cops, would you have

[Mermaid02]

I'm sorry- an 8 year old, out at night, yelling to a "Mom" who didn't appear to be anywhere near and throwing herself at your door..... sounds like an episode of the Twilight Zone. Sounds like the kid has some issues- you don't THROW yourself at a door, you knock.

I wouldn't have let her in either- I would have watched out the window and spoken to her- and possibly called the police (thinking that she needed help more than to save myself- but either way calling the police)

I wouldn't worry about being "that neighbor" I'd be more worried to think I'm now the parent with "that kid" who throws herself at strangers doors and demands to be let in.

I've been wondering when someone else would bring this one up, but as no one yet has. . .

The behavior the girl exhibited sounds to me a lot like the behaviors I've seen in bipolar teens and young adults, and those kids were exhibiting those behaviors far earlier than adolescence.

This is just one event in the child's life and a frightened, upset 8 year old will say and do things that aren't rational, but if that had happened to me, in our little neighborhood where we all know each other, I'd think the child had some sort of emotional/behavioral/psychological problems. There is NO way I would've opened the door, even though I would have for a child who ran up and knocked or told me someone was chasing her or any of a myriad of other reasons. (Even the ones who ding-dong-ditched at a slumber party the other day. . .and then got scared by all the big dogs in our neighborhood barking at them after 3 houses. )

A child who might or might not be in a psychotic state isn't something I want to deal with. Sorry, but no.

It sounds like the parents were trying to minimize the situation and fudging on what happened, which worries me a great deal. I've known a couple of bipolar adults who were abused as kids because their parents couldn't deal with kids who were emotionally taxing, trying and extremely defiant. So that would have all kinds of warning bells going off for me. If your kid is doing strange things, the worst thing you can do is blame it on someone else being overly anxious. That indicates an inability to face your kids' problems and a tendency towards deceit.

It's also possible I'm reading too much into this, but still. No. I would not have opened that door and I would be highly upset if any policeman tried to make me feel like I'd done the wrong thing in calling.

Quoting myself because that's what I was getting at too- It's not normal to THROW your body at a door. Can you imagine if the door hadn't been locked?? Sounds like the kid would have landed in the room like a tasmanian devil!

And yes, it could have been an innocent mistake by a child...... but remember, it was after 9pm (I don't know many 8 year olds who wander in the dark alone like that) and the OP was sitting in her home quietly when someone started throwing themselves at her door and screaming to a Mother who was nowhere in sight.....

 

[manning]

In our town the police would be annoyed if you did not call.

 

[czycropper]

Where do you live in NJ?

 

[Lanshark]

You made a decision based on what you were seeing and feeling at the time. It doesn't matter if anyone else would have done the same thing. Unless others have been in the exact same situation they don't know what they would do. Throwing yourself at a door and demanding to be let in is not normal behavior. A child that was being chased would have yelled for help and your reaction may have been different.