Would you please stop.

[klj27]

Why do you get entertained by dingdongditching? This happens every few months when it is cold and every few weeks when it is warm. This has been going on for a year and even though we never answer the door and don't give you any attention it leaves me so annerved. I try to not make a big deal out of it, but I have been near tears for the last hour and a half. I used to be better at ignoring it, but on New Year's Eve they kept doing it and we didn't respond. We later found they broke one of our light up reindeer in half.

I have anxiety and my mind always goes to worse case scenarios. I can't sleep now and just want to cry. We did call the nonemergency number tonight and a sheriff drove through our neighborhood with their spotlight on. I am the one who always stays rational on the outside and keep everyone else calm and at ease, but I don't feel that way.

 

[FireDancer]

You might want to consider setting up a network camera if it is really that bad. It isn't that hard and you can set up a video server with motion detection. It's been a long time since I've been, well, what we call that . If it was just every once in a while I'd just chalk it up to kids being kids but if it happens all the time or includes vandalism I'd have a problem with it.

 

[kathie859]

I'm sorry this has got to you! I assume that this is someone ringing your doorbell and running away? (dingdongditching is a new one for me). Just a thought.....how is the lighting by your front door? Is it well lit? I would think that may deter them.

Have a cup of tea and try to relax

 

[emer95]

I'm so sorry! That would really unnerve me too. It's never happened to me but it happens a lot in the neighborhood near us. Once we were at a neighbor's house for a bonfire and I asked the neighbor where her son was, and she said casually, "Oh, he's dngdongditching." I asked her if she was joking and she said, "no, all the boys do it." I was horrified that he did it with her permission!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Awww, I feel so bad for you. It's probably just a bunch of tween boys whose parents are having a get together and not paying attention to their antics, seems to line up with it being weekends and New Years. We were at a friends house and the older boys went around doing this, my son came in and told me because he didn't want to get in trouble. I think its terrible and don't get why it's fun for them but they didn't mean any harm. if they meant harm there are more provocative things to do, this is just immature to me.

feel better

 

[stepmommyof1]

Put something gross on your doorbell. Or slippery on your front step. Immature, I know. But I wouldn't know what else to do if you can't catch the person. I wouldn't ignore it.
I had an experience with this. I was a senior in college and I was home for a weekend and found out my parents got those ding dong ditch things every Friday night. So I hid outside and tackled the person as they ran away. They were all in black with a hood, and I jumped on him and went rolling down the driveway. I wrestled the hood off and found out it was a boy about 16 who I had babysat up til a few years before. I was shocked it was him and he was shocked because he had no idea that the house was where my parents lived. He kept saying he was sorry and I didn't care, I dragged him all the way back to his house and knocked on the door at 2 am and they had obviously been asleep and they thought he was asleep in his room as well, so I told them what he had been doing. His dad insisted on driving me home so I wouldn't walk home late at night, even though it was only a few streets away. The next day he came over and apologized (because they made him apologize I'm sure) and they called my parents and said their son would be more than happy to mow their yard all summer for free.
He's really not a bad kid and he has nice parents, but I guess it was his way of doing something bad for a change. Anyway as far as I know he never did it again.

 

[klj27]

Thanks for all the kind words. The front of the house is very well lit. (A lamp by each side of the front door and a light on a pole where the driveway and frontwalk meet.)

I have just been reading about Japan and it is making me calm down a little. I feel certain any of those people would gladly trade places with me right now.

It is still so ridiculous! I suffered a misscarriage in August and would have been due this week. I have been so sad and having nightmares already. I just want to go outside and scream, "my baby died and you are bothering me with this, really?"

 

[mommasita]

Thanks for all the kind words. The front of the house is very well lit. (A lamp by each side of the front door and a light on a pole where the driveway and frontwalk meet.)

I have just been reading about Japan and it is making me calm down a little. I feel certain any of those people would gladly trade places with me right now.

It is still so ridiculous! I suffered a misscarriage in August and would have been due this week. I have been so sad and having nightmares already. I just want to go outside and scream, "my baby died and you are bothering me with this, really?"

 

[Kimberly]

A simple motion sensing porch light would solve this problem. Usually enough to scare most kids away.

 

[penn19]

I was being dingdongditched. Getting mad as it was late. I laid by my front door and had my eyes on the side light. When I saw the kid come up to do it again, I went bam bam bam on the door. Scared the crap out of the kid. Haven't been ding dong ditched since.

 

[snarlingcoyote]

I am so sorry. I wish I could do something for you. If it were feasible, I'd lend you my German Shepherd for a few days. She would have a BLAST scaring the mess out your ditchers.

 

[dyna]

A few years ago my totally blind friend was getting dingdonged without the door bell always on nights when her husband was working. Usually my friend was still up. She called the police more than once but lived 20 miles from town so by the time the police arrived the dingdong person was long gone.

Friend got tired of it as it was happening 3 or 4 nights a week for several weeks. Her boys was mid-teens at the time an old enough to stay out of her way. Friend set up her 16 gauge shot gun at the kitchen table where she had straight clear shot at the door. She did check an make sure her boys was behind her before she fired.

She had to go buy a new door the next mornin but the dingdonger did not come back again.

Friends dingdonger did not ring once an leave usually stayed banging on door for as long as 30 mins but would not idenditfy self when asked WHO is there?.....VERY SCARY for a blind person.

 

[klj27]

They gave us a two week break, but guess who is at it again????? Ugghhhh. I am thinking about disabling the doorbell. I think I am definately going to talk to my husband tomorrow about adding motion lights to the house. The front is already well lit but maybe the motion feature will deter them. I hate that I have to spend money that we don't have because of someone's immaturity.

 

[Malibustyle23]

I have a free idea but you probably won't like it. Ready? Spread dog poop on the doorknob doubt theyll ring the bell again after that!

 

[wdwmom0f3]

A few years ago my totally blind friend was getting dingdonged without the door bell always on nights when her husband was working. Usually my friend was still up. She called the police more than once but lived 20 miles from town so by the time the police arrived the dingdong person was long gone.

Friend got tired of it as it was happening 3 or 4 nights a week for several weeks. Her boys was mid-teens at the time an old enough to stay out of her way. Friend set up her 16 gauge shot gun at the kitchen table where she had straight clear shot at the door. She did check an make sure her boys was behind her before she fired.

She had to go buy a new door the next mornin but the dingdonger did not come back again.Friends dingdonger did not ring once an leave usually stayed banging on door for as long as 30 mins but would not idenditfy self when asked WHO is there?.....VERY SCARY for a blind person.

She could have killed someone! I would have been aggravated too, but this was not the way to handle it. If they stayed there for 30 minutes the police had time to get there.

 

[Family Fun Mom]

I feel for the OPs obvious pain, but really? Ding Dong Ditching is just kids being kids. There are far worse things they could be doing. Of course it's immature, that's the point. Try not to take it personal and remember it's just silly kids who are probably bored.

OP, I do hope you feel better. My heart does go out to you. I hope you get to a point where you can laugh it off and not let it get you so unnerved. Personally, I'd have some fun of my own trying to catch the little suckers and give them a taste of their own medicine.

 

[postage stamp]

I was visiting my in-laws for Christmas in Chicago and some of my BIL's high school friends decided it would be awesome to dingdong ditch us for about 2 hours. So right after they did it I went out the back door, walked around the house, hooked up the hose, and hid in a bush at the side of the house.

Sure enough they came back, I waited until they walked past me, walked out and stood behind them, let them ring the doorbell one more time, and when they turned around to run they were confronted with an irritated Irishwoman with a very cold hose.

Needless to say it stopped after that.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

I was visiting my in-laws for Christmas in Chicago and some of my BIL's high school friends decided it would be awesome to dingdong ditch us for about 2 hours. So right after they did it I went out the back door, walked around the house, hooked up the hose, and hid in a bush at the side of the house.

Sure enough they came back, I waited until they walked past me, walked out and stood behind them, let them ring the doorbell one more time, and when they turned around to run they were confronted with an irritated Irishwoman with a very cold hose.

Needless to say it stopped after that.

I love it!

I would do something like this if it happened to me a lot. We had some 12 or 13 year old boys dingdongditch us one morning, then they got on facebook and bragged about it.

 

[postage stamp]

I love it!

I would do something like this if it happened to me a lot. We had some 12 or 13 year old boys dingdongditch us one morning, then they got on facebook and bragged about it.

It really gave me a taste of what being Red Forman would be like. (And I'm scared to admit that I LIKED it!)

 

[klj27]

I finally got a glimpse of them. It happened about twenty minutes ago and I was in my second story bedroom. I stood at my window after about five minutes I saw a kid with his hoodie pulled up sneaking towards our front door. I banged on the window and he along with some others took off running. They tried again five minutes later and I did the same thing. I counted at least five kids. We don't have street lights so it was hard to see them in the road but it looked like they were all over the street and their main convening spot was our next door neighbor. We have talked to that neighbor twice about this and he has said it is not his son. This neighbor is very nice, but ugh.