Something to Dwell Upon: Wanted: Built-In Playmates

Hearts are breaking at our house right now. At the end of this week our neighbors of seven years are moving which means that my children will lose their built-in playmates. In a world where kids are overscheduled with homework, sports, and after school activities like piano, dance and chess, it’s been a blessing not to have to schedule play dates too. There aren’t many days when I don’t recall answering the door to find one of our neighbors asking if my kids could play. Was it a distraction when they were doing homework or practicing piano? Absolutely - but a welcome one. Nothing makes me happier than looking out my window to see three brunettes and three blondes bouncing up and down on the trampoline. What mom wouldn’t love to receive the treasures they’ve dug up from our yard, which is apparently filled with horseshoes, rocks and worms? The kids have spent countless hours together riding bikes and scooters, catching frogs in the creek, having water gun wars, playing tree tag, holding yard sales, sledding between our lawns, singing along with my daughter’s karaoke machine and sleeping over at each other’s houses. I thought my husband might have a heart attack the day he arrived home from work to find the kids hitting baseballs over our roof. Or when they dug a trench in his precious green lawn to create a water way from our house to the creek and then proceeded to fill it with water from the hose. I laughed about these activities and wasn’t quick to discourage them because they reminded me so much of my own childhood antics.

Our neighbors moved in a few weeks after we did, on a crisp spring day. I remember grabbing my husband and one-year old daughter when I saw the moving van pull up to the house next door and rushing over with a bottle of wine to welcome them. I was thrilled to learn that they had three young children, a daughter a few years older than mine and two little boys (I was pregnant with my son at the time). Shortly after that, their little girl would stop by our house to drop off her old toys for my daughter who relished the gifts because they belonged to a girl she idolized. My son has spent the last six years learning bike and video game tricks from the boys next door. My two year old daughter has all of them wrapped around her little fingers – they’re always willing to push her on the swing or sit and have “tea” with her, despite their six to ten year age differences.

These have been good neighbors. They brought over food and gifts when I gave birth to my son and youngest daughter. They welcomed us into their home for Christmas the year we couldn’t travel because of medical reasons. They treated my children like their own. The truth is, in all these years, they’ve become more than neighbors, they’ve become family. Fortunately, they are not moving far away, so we’ll be able to schedule play dates and family get-togethers. I just hope that when I see a moving van pull up to the house next door it’s moving in a family with three young kids who are looking for some built-in playmates.