Welcome to the neighborhood

Aw the ‘hood.

I love my neighborhood. I also don’t like it very much. I love that there is no HOA, we have a park right down the street, a TRAX station within walking distance and a speed limit of 15mph. I hate that there is no HOA, we have  a park right down the street, a TRAX station within walking distance and a speed limit of 15mph.

I’m sure every neighborhood has their pros and cons and the thing that makes it livable or horrible are the people. I gots good peoples ‘round here. Mostly.

Some people are dillholes. I’m not even sure where they live but it’s the people that write horrible things on the play ground or on people’s fences or work on their cars in the middle of the road. But the ones that really irritate me are the ones involving this sign:

If you look closely and I recommend you don’t, someone has written the Queen of all cuss words where the faded heart is. So instead of it saying “we {heart} our children, it says, “We….” Well, you get the idea..

This sign just so happens to be in my front yard. At one point I thought the word had been washed off by weather or some city worker until one day my 7 year old came in and asked, “Mom, is #!@* a bad word?”

Nothing more tender than hearing your 7 year old say that word.

I was so caught by surprise all I said was, “Yes” and then she went off to school. That whole day I was worried that she was telling her friends all about the new word she learned all because I didn’t discuss what a horrible word it really is. Luckily, I did not get a call from the school that day. Phew!

After that it became a sort of war between my 9 year old and her friend and the dillholes that were writing the word. The girls would scribble over it with a Sharpie and a few days later the word would show back up like a bad 80’s sitcom.

We were playing outside the other day and all I could see was that stupid word. It’s one thing if I’m seeing it but the thing that makes me so angry is that my children's innocent little minds were being introduced to some of the ugliness of the English language.

I kept trying different products I was finding in my garage to get it off. Who knew it end up being just a Kirkland disinfectant wipe?! Only thing was by the time I got it off, the heart was totally gone, too! So now I just had a sign saying “We      our children”. That just makes no sense so out came the red Sharpie.

I felt a little dorky standing there coloring a heart on a street sign but it was for the kids.

It’s been a week since and we may be in a cease fire but I’m worried they are just trying to make me feel safe and then they’ll attack with Sharpie in hand.

I’m watching and waiting with my Kirtland wipes and my own Sharpie.

And yes, I have no life.