The weather is getting to be very nice here.  Like 70-degree-weather nice.  Yeah, that nice.  With all of these gorgeous days we’ve been having, the kids only want to play outside after homework has been done.  Of course homework is another monster that I will tackle in a later post.  Anyway, I’ve been letting the kids ride their bikes in the street soaking up all the sun we can get.  Maybe I should elaborate.  The kids do ride in the streets, with their helmets on.  I have a nylon fluorescent sign that says “Drive Slowly” that I put in the street.  And I camp out on a folding chair on the sidewalk at the end of our driveway.  We live in a community where the streets are a bit narrower, and the lots are the size of postage stamps.  So it’s a cozy situation we’ve got here.

I can’t tell you how many people drive down the street so much faster than they should.  I will usually mouth to them “slow down” when they zoom by and wave.  Or, if their window is open, I will yell, “Slow Down!”  It’s amazing to me how fast they go 1) in general, 2) with my sign out, and 3) with my kids right there.  One guy had the audacity to stop, reverse, and drive right up to the sidewalk where my kids were parked after I called out to slow down. He proceeded to tell me that my kids weren’t allowed to play in the street, that my sign was illegal, and that playing is what the park is for.  I was calm and cool and let him know that wasn’t the case, reminded him of the 20  mph speed limit, and then he sped off.  I was actually offended and felt a bit threatened.  Seriously.

That night I wrote an email to the property manager and retold the story.  I also let him know how I felt, and I wanted to know exactly what the CC&R’s said about riding or playing in the streets.  Certainly I wouldn’t allow this to occur without me being right there.  My how times have changed…I remember riding my bike all over the neighborhood…and in the summer, I wouldn’t come home until dark!  Of course my parents knew of my whereabouts, but it was a time when she didn’t have to be on top of me, like I will have to be for my kids.  Especially Emma.  The property manager just wrote an email saying this issue would be a addressed at the March Board of Directors meeting.

What I’d like to do is put a sign up at the community mailbox to politely remind people that the weather is nice, kids are playing outside, and to please be respectful and safe when driving down the street.  Is that too much to ask?

What would you do?

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