Neighbours kid in my home?

amtc

I live in a very quiet area that has a communal back garden. Being warm on Saturday I left my back door open...I have been here 10 years and never had an issue. There's 8 houses here, only one rented, rest I never see apart from to say hi and good bye.

I was upstairs (it's a duplex) for about 15 minutes tidying Saturday lunchtime and was bringing down clothes to put on a wash....out of the corner of my eye, saw movement. Little boy about 3 sitting on my sofa watching tv. Happy as Larry.

I didn't know where he came from. I had a look out the communal back, no doors open. I rang on the doorbells, no answer. I'm heading out with my mate in 20 minutes! Eventually I got him to give me his mam's name and he knew the number so I called her. 'She'd be up in a bit' I was livid, as was my mate as we missed a lunch reservation. I also was quite concerned that I'd be reported as a child abductor. On my coffee table, there were coins, a knife (I'd been peeling fruit), nail polish remover.

Today, had the door open again and the poor little thing popped his head in again and promptly went over to the same seat. I don't want to upset him but I would like my own home to be my own home.

The_Conductor

Lock your door.
The child probably sees you as some kind of refuge.
You need to knock this on the head- immediately.
Aside from anything else- by allowing the child in your house like this (whether deliberately or not)- you are accepting responsibility for the child, and if anything were to happen to the child- it would be on you.

If you're happy to accept this responsibility- fine- otherwise- knock it on the head.

Taltos

amtc - I have given you your own thread as you have a different issue to the OP in the thread you posted this to.

Thanks
Taltos

ABajaninCork

Do you know where his parents live? I'd be popping round to have a word. The parents are idiots letting such a small child roam around. ANYTHING could have happened to the little mite. If you can, keep a close eye on the child.

And I second what The Conductor says. I'd start locking the door now.

Merkin

Agree with the above, if anything happens the little one (and he is only three so wouldn't have a huge amount of sense!) on your watch, you'd be the one responsible. It's going to be quite a hot summer so you either buy a screen for your door so nobody can get in or out or else just lock your door completely. His mother sounds totally irresponsible so I'm not sure having a word with her would even register given that she allows a little one of that size roam around unsupervised :mad:

LegacyUser

OP I am absolutely astounded that a mother/father would let a THREE year old roam around on their own??? I'm not even a parent, but even I know that's dangerous and out of order.


Definitely agree with the above. Get a screen or something similar to stop the adventurer from entering. But first and foremost - mention it to the mother. It's not acceptable so dont feel bad saying it to her. She should bloody know better!!

Chattastrophe!

The_Conductor wrote: »

Lock your door.
The child probably sees you as some kind of refuge.
You need to knock this on the head- immediately.
Aside from anything else- by allowing the child in your house like this (whether deliberately or not)- you are accepting responsibility for the child, and if anything were to happen to the child- it would be on you.

I misread this part as "You need to knock him on the head" ... :eek:

As others have said OP if you don't want to accept responsibility, the door needs to be locked.

This is for your own safety, too - if a child can figure own that your door is regularly left wide open, any "dodgy characters" living in the area could very well have noticed this too - and by the sounds of it, you don't know the neighbours very well. It seems risky to me, I know as you say it's a communal garden shared between only a few people, but even though they're your neighbours they're still essentially strangers to you ...

The child's mother sounds completely irresponsible. I'd be mortified if I got a call that my child was in a neighbour's house and I hadn't even noticed he was missing. She's just lucky that it was your house he ended up in and not somewhere that he was in danger. This idea of "She'll be up in a bit" .... say if you were calling to tell her he was in an ambulance on the way to the hospital after cutting himself with the knife or drinking the nail varnish - I doubt she'd be so casual, and it's very likely that she'd blame you for it instead of blaming her own negligence! To be honest I probably wouldn't bother having a word with her, if she didn't cop on the first time to start minding her child, I doubt there's much you could say to her that would make a difference.

But at the end of the day, if you're leaving a door wide open, unsupervised, in a shared area, you're leaving yourself very vulnerable to all sorts of problems. If you keep doing it, you need to be aware of the risk of anyone coming in. I have a private back garden with high fences, and I still wouldn't be comfortable doing it - not to prevent kids getting in, but because I'd be worried about the risk of burglary - unfortunately I think this is probably the norm these days.

By the way if the child is old enough to be able to tell you his mum's name and phone number, it's possible you could have a chat with him yourself and explain that he can't go into other people's houses. This may work, it may not. Either way, it could be another child from another family doing the same thing next week if you continue to leave your door open, and next time you mightn't be so lucky that no one was injured. You're obviously not going to childproof your home "just in case", so stopping kids coming in in the first place is your only real option.

punisher5112

Hold on everybody.

The op is not responsible for this child, the Childs so called parents/ guardians are.

You should be able to have your own doors/windows open.

Kids will be kids and I think its quite cute and funny but fully understand your worries amtc.

kids love to wander and every things an adventure.

I would as said above have a word with the parents and don't worry about hurting the kids feelings be nice but be firm and say no not aloud to dangerous in here and show them out the door.

Remember this is not your child and not your responsibility and its your home and can actualy do whatever you want inside your own home.

Merkin

punisher5112 wrote: »

The op is not responsible for this child, the Childs so called parents/ guardians are.

And where do you think the blame would be apportioned were the child to think it funny to stick a knife in their eye while sitting on the OP's sofa?

Chattastrophe!

punisher5112 wrote: »

Hold on everybody.

The op is not responsible for this child, the Childs so called parents/ guardians are.

You should be able to have your own doors/windows open.

Kids will be kids and I think its quite cute and funny but fully understand your worries amtc.

kids love to wander and every things an adventure.

I would as said above have a word with the parents and don't worry about hurting the kids feelings be nice but be firm and say no not aloud to dangerous in here and show them out the door.

Remember this is not your child and not your responsibility and its your home and can actualy do whatever you want inside your own home.

Actually I'm pretty sure the OP would be legally responsible if the child was injured in their home, and would be liable for any costs arising from the incident. It mightn't seem fair or right, but it's the law.

The parents should be acting like responsible adults and keeping the child out of danger, sadly it's not happening here.

May be no harm letting the local social welfare office know - to be honest I doubt they'd even bother investigating this incident in itself, but you could be one of many people contacting them about this family, your complaint may be the one to push them to investigate further. At least then you'll know you've done your bit.

Big Bag of Chips

I know you did right by trying to find his parents but you should have said "You're not allowed in here, you have to go home".

If the child knew his mother's number, surely he knew which house was his... So send him home.

There are parents who let their children off knowing that someone else will look after them. I know people who actually send their children to other houses knowing that the person will mind them, feed them etc.

How long did it take for the mother to come for him, if you and your friend missed a lunch reservation? You should have put the child outside the door and told them you were going off.

That might sound harsh, but the little lad sounds like he knows his way around! If I contacted a parent who told me they'd be "up in a bit" I'd tell them I was going out, now. And there child was wandering around alone.

I'm mother by the way, and in normal circumstances I wouldn't leave a 3 year old wandering around without trying to find out where he came from. But if I contacted the parents and they didn't seem too frantic to get him back, I'd be assuming that he's out playing most days and knows where to go.

CaraMay

The mother should have learned her lesson the first time. How long did she take to show up? What did she say?

If there is a next time i would call the police. I have a toddler and would die if that happened to my son. Mistakes can happen but this appears to be a regular thing. The poor child

Riskymove

Hey OP wrote: »

OP I am absolutely astounded that a mother/father would let a THREE year old roam around on their own??? I'm not even a parent, but even I know that's dangerous and out of order.

while it's still not great this is a communal back garden we are talking about

it's easy to imagine the kid being outside his own home and wandering along the other back doors

I'd be more concerned that he wasn't missed or too concerned to get him back

CaraMay

Was he from the other houses attached to the garden op?

tinkerbell

Riskymove wrote: »

while it's still not great this is a communal back garden we are talking about

it's easy to imagine the kid being outside his own home and wandering along the other back doors

I'd be more concerned that he wasn't missed or too concerned to get him back

Communal back garden or not - what if one of the houses is occupied by a paedophile? Just because there's a communal space, doesn't mean you can let a toddler roam around by themselves. OP, if it happens again I'd be calling the gardai, although you prob should've done that the first time it happened. And for goodness sake, why do you leave your door open? Anybody could walk in and do god knows what to you or your property.

The_fever

Political Correctness gone mad, this country is obsessed with terror of what "might happen" , I despair . I cringed reading the vast majority of this replies , what chance do our kids have, " you must be afraid" .

Riskymove

tinkerbell wrote: »

Communal back garden or not

I just think there is a big difference between this scenario and if the kid was actually roaming without limits etc

I still don't think it's a good idea but just more understandable that the kid could slip out into the back garden

Merkin

The_fever wrote: »

Political Correctness gone mad, this country is obsessed with terror of what "might happen" , I despair . I cringed reading the vast majority of this replies , what chance do our kids have, " you must be afraid" .

And what pearls of wisdom do you have to impart prey tell?

LynnGrace

Big Bag of Chips wrote: »

I know you did right by trying to find his parents but you should have said "You're not allowed in here, you have to go home".

If the child knew his mother's number, surely he knew which house was his... So send him home.

There are parents who let their children off knowing that someone else will look after them. I know people who actually send their children to other houses knowing that the person will mind them, feed them etc.

How long did it take for the mother to come for him, if you and your friend missed a lunch reservation? You should have put the child outside the door and told them you were going off.

That might sound harsh, but the little lad sounds like he knows his way around! If I contacted a parent who told me they'd be "up in a bit" I'd tell them I was going out, now. And there child was wandering around alone.

Same here, once I had called, I'd be scooting him out the door. Poor little fellow, but you need to nip that in the bud straightaway.

ABajaninCork

The_fever wrote: »

Political Correctness gone mad, this country is obsessed with terror of what "might happen" , I despair . I cringed reading the vast majority of this replies , what chance do our kids have, " you must be afraid" .

We live in very different times now. People know their rights, but not their responsibilities. The mother left the child to wander into another home. When she was told where the child was, the response was 'I'll be down in a bit'. The OP was treated with contempt IMO. If she were a creche, that attitude would not be tolerated, and the mother hit with a fine for being late. Most other people would have apologised profusely and collected the child.

Do you have kids? Would you be happy having your child wander off and not know where it was? The child is only 3. Not old enough to be playing out by themselves, IMO, and certainly should have been properly supervised. You really need eyes in the back of your head with curious toddlers. I don't have kids and even I know that!

So - now that I've expanded a bit on the replies on the thread, please tell me why you're 'cringing' and 'despairing'? What you might have done in that situation?

ahnowbrowncow

tinkerbell wrote: »

Communal back garden or not - what if one of the houses is occupied by a paedophile? Just because there's a communal space, doesn't mean you can let a toddler roam around by themselves. OP, if it happens again I'd be calling the gardai, although you prob should've done that the first time it happened. And for goodness sake, why do you leave your door open? Anybody could walk in and do god knows what to you or your property.

Let's not start scare mongering, there aren't paedophiles around every corner even though the media portray it as such.

ABajaninCork

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Let's not start scare mongering, there aren't paedophiles around every corner even though the media portray it as such.

Whilst there aren't paedophiles hiding under every bed, I hardly think what happened to the OP was scaremongering. Did you read the part where the OP had a knife on the table after peeling fruit? What if the child had picked up that knife and cut themselves with it? What if the child pulled something down on them and injured themselves? Even if you live with kids, you can't take your eyes off them for a second!

Merkin

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Let's not start scare mongering, there aren't paedophiles around every corner even though the media portray it as such.

It only takes one corner :rolleyes:

Chattastrophe!

The_fever wrote: »

Political Correctness gone mad, this country is obsessed with terror of what "might happen" , I despair . I cringed reading the vast majority of this replies , what chance do our kids have, " you must be afraid" .

You hardly think it's in any way OK or appropriate for a child to be let roam free when they're clearly not mature enough to know that it's not OK to enter strangers' homes?

There was a very real danger here of the kid being injured. Seriously, nail varnish remover isn't going to have a childproofed cap, and it's usually in nice bright colours which would be attractive to young kids. Not to mention the damage a small child could do to themselves with a knife. (And of course there was a danger that the kid could have ended up destroying the couch, TV, any of the OPs property with either the knife or the nail varnish remover, obviously this wouldn't be as bad as if they injured themselves, but it's still a very real danger and would be a complete pain in the ass for the OP - you'd be amazed how destructive small kids can be!)

I mean, I wouldn't consider myself over-protective, but as a parent you do have a responsibility to look after your children until they're old enough to look after themselves. This child's mother's (lack of) response is really strange and worrying.

LegacyUser

Next time it happens OP just call the police and let them deal with it. Personally I'd have just kicked him out the first time but you'd have the bleedin hearts on to about endangering a child even when it's not your child. The parents clearly didn't correct the child's behaviour after the first time so call the police. I had this happen in a bookstore in a large shopping center I worked in were a mother left her child in the kids section and then left the store to go shopping, book store closes a half an hour before any of the clothes shops so we were stuck with this 5 year old and we were delayed leaving for 20mims while staff ran to different shops asking for the mother who turned up and didn't even say sorry. Happened again a few months later and I marched the child to security and had them call the cops and handed the kid over to them. Some parents need a serious wake up call to be responsible for their off spring. The "do you kids?" brigade are so child centric it's hard to deal with them at all. A communal garden means you can't just let your child wander off unserpvised as I assume each house has their own access to it thus several points you don't control were your child could get out and wander away. Hell even if you have a fully inclosed private garden I'd still be checking on a 3 year old playing in it ever 10mins or so.

Raminahobbin

WOW OP! :eek:

Can't believe a child was left wandering around like that!! I leave my front door wide open pretty frequently as it's got a very secluded entrance. However, if I went into the room and found a 3 year old in my kitchen, I'd be very firm and make it VERY clear to the child that he/she was not welcome. Then I'd take the child home (going door to door if they couldn't remember) and be very stern with the mother. If it was a repeat incident, I might raise my voice.

When I was a kid, I used to do the same thing. A lot of people on my road left their doors open during the day, and I might have wandered in and out the odd time (playing dares or whatever) I was caught ONCE, and the lady yelled the head off me and ran me from the house- I never did it again.

I'd much rather they think of me as the nasty neighbour and give me a wide berth than be potentially at fault should anything go wrong with a kid in my house. I'd also MUCH rather the child gets a bit of a fright and it knocks this habit on the head of wandering into people's houses, because some day it might just be the wrong house with someone a lot nastier than just a woman yelling a little bit.

It's the same tactic I take when out walking my dog- I'd much rather yell at a toddler and/or their parent for trying to pull at my dog and have them think of me as the nasty b*tch, than for my dog to bite one and potentially have to deal with a legal situation.

Pawwed Rig

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Whilst there aren't paedophiles hiding under every bed, I hardly think what happened to the OP was scaremongering.

True but the paedophile comment was scaremongering. Not relevant in this discussion imho.

I think the little 3 year old walking in and sitting watching TV is kind of sweet although I see the point regarding the non child proofing of the house.

uck51js9zml2yt

I've a 3 year old and while I don't let him wander off, I would be horrified to think that if he did and someone found him that they would leave him on the street to find for himself just because he was an inconvenience.

On the other hand Op, you need to have a word with the parents and tell them you'll be calling the police and reporting a lost child next time he arrives on your couch.

frag420

Merkin wrote: »

punisher5112 wrote: »

The op is not responsible for this child, the Childs so called parents/ guardians are.

And where do you think the blame would be apportioned were the child to think it funny to stick a knife in their eye while sitting on the OP's sofa?

Eh with the childs dumbass parents!! The child is not the OPs responsibility. If the child had knocked over the TV trespassing in the OP's house are you saying the OP could not blame the kids parents for not looking after their THREE yr old child?

OP I would be calling social services and telling them about the child being left alone to walk into random peoples houses....

ABajaninCork

ahnowbrowncow wrote: »

Let's not start scare mongering, there aren't paedophiles around every corner even though the media portray it as such.

I think you'll find the above comment mentioned paedophiles. Not me. I merely quoted that comment back...

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

True but the paedophile comment was scaremongering. Not relevant in this discussion imho.

I think the little 3 year old walking in and sitting watching TV is kind of sweet although I see the point regarding the non child proofing of the house.

And yes. It is sweet a kiddie wandering in. Until something happens. He obviously feels comfortable with the OP. But he should not be there. It is not his home and he is NOT there with permission. The mother needs to be told this in the strongest possible terms.

the_syco

The_fever wrote: »

Political Correctness gone mad, this country is obsessed with terror of what "might happen" , I despair . I cringed reading the vast majority of this replies , what chance do our kids have, " you must be afraid" .

Back in the day, the owner of the house would probably yell for the kid to get the funk out of the funking house. Can't do that now a days, as toddler running screaming out of the house will have the mother ringing the police to report you for yelling at her kid, etc, etc.

As for leaving the door open next to a communal garden; you're just asking for stuff to be nicked.

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

I think the little 3 year old walking in and sitting watching TV is kind of sweet although I see the point regarding the non child proofing of the house.

Sweet until OP wanders downstairs naked to grab boxers out of the dryer, and the kid mentions to their mammy that the OP flashed the kid.

=-=

OP, if it's your house, get something like this;

http://prestigesecuritydoors.ie/our-security-products/window-grilles/

It allows you to leave the patio door open, but your house inaccessible. It also adds security to your home, as patio doors can be targets (for point of entry) by thieves.

ABajaninCork

Oh God! My Mum has one of those across her patio doors. I know they're secure, but they're HORRIBLE!! Reminds me of prison bars, it does...

Big Bag of Chips

Khloe Dazzling Sarsaparilla wrote: »

I've a 3 year old and while I don't let him wander off, I would be horrified to think that if he did and someone found him that they would leave him on the street to find for himself just because he was an inconvenience.

On the other hand Op, you need to have a word with the parents and tell them you'll be calling the police and reporting a lost child next time he arrives on your couch.

Nobody mentioned leaving any child "on the street". The child is in an enclosed communal garden area. There is no need for the emotive language to try to exaggerate a point.

Also I don't think the guards would be too impressed with someone calling them about a "lost child" in an enclosed communal garden area either. You might be the one getting an earful for wasting garda time and resources.

If the summer is nice the child is going to wander around in the relative safety of the area he lives in. If you feel he is being neglected or mistreated in any way you can of course report it. But if he is out playing a bit away from his house yet still in the communal area any "authority" you contact will politely tell you to go away. They've enough to be doing.

Tell the child they are not allowed in your house. They'll soon get the message.

Rubberchikken

Parents like this are the ones who howl the loudest and buy the biggest craziest arrangements of flowers when something goes wrong.

You cant hurt the feelings of a mother like this.
If shes willing to let a three year old wander off and doesnt come running immediately when told the kids in a strangers house, she was probably very happy to have him off her hands.

Tell him to go home, tell her to be more responsible and close your door.

tawnyowl

The_fever wrote: »

Political Correctness gone mad, this country is obsessed with terror of what "might happen" , I despair . I cringed reading the vast majority of this replies , what chance do our kids have, " you must be afraid" .

Some of the concerns about safety are quite likely - what if the child wanders into a house where there's a hot mug of coffee on a table, accidentally knocks it over and scalds themselves?

Remember, this is a three year old child being discussed - they don't have much sense.

Overheal

amtc wrote: »

I had a look out the communal back, no doors open. I rang on the doorbells, no answer.

Eventually I got him to give me his mam's name and he knew the number so I called her. 'She'd be up in a bit'

Today, had the door open again and the poor little thing popped his head in again and promptly went over to the same seat.

The_Conductor wrote: »

The child probably sees you as some kind of refuge.

Is anybody else doing the same math as me with this information? Any chance of child neglect, or abuse OP?

amtc

Same thing happened again last night. I was off work early so home at 4.Now before anyone tells me off despite it being a nice night I had my door shut. However I had a friend over who smokes and was outside when he saw said child wandering up. He promptly took child by the arm and brought him home. Mother again not all that concerned.

Anyway mentioned it in work and was told this is quite common to send kids in to get keys and bring home. These are very new neighbours by the way. I have a spare set of keys here quite accessible. Hadnt checked since last time. Anyway after my colleague told me this I checked. Guess what gone.


I rang the guards and spent 200 euro getting my locks changed.

I'm disgusted. I've lived here for ten years and although nothing gone I feel violated.

pc7

Jesus OP that's nuts, thankfully you twigged the keys were gone, expensive end game. But thankfully you weren't robbed. Did the guards call to the house of the 3 year old?

amtc

pc7 wrote: »

Jesus OP that's nuts, thankfully you twigged the keys were gone, expensive end game. But thankfully you weren't robbed. Did the guards call to the house of the 3 year old?

Yeah. Actually got the keys back. A convenient accident apparently. Guards told me same thing though is common ruse. Complete coincidence I said it in work though. I was kind of thinking I was over reacting.

These people are only here a week so I'm going to call the property management company later.

I know I shouldn't have a spare set of keys around but I need them to put my bins out. Thankfully my mate was here and will be here all day. And have new keys.

Bit shaken up though. Even my mate was as was worried going to get accused of being child abductor. He has a toddler himself so at least knew what to do.

Haven't slept all night as you can imagine.

LynnGrace

Hope you're okay OP. Hopefully the warning gets out to all the others, before any harm is done. I would never have thought of checking the spare keys, just as well you mentioned it at work. They must train up the little fellow to do that, isn't that rotten.

ManOfMystery

That's crazy. It's bad enough that the parents are obviously thieving ******, but to use their kid like that makes it even worse.

ABajaninCork

OMG!! :eek: I had to read amtc's twice before I could believe it. I've never heard of this before.

Didn't the kid's mother think to ask where the keys came from? A call to Social Services might be in order here - I dunno, I thought coming from London, not much would shock me, but this takes the biscuit!

CaraMay

Wow. Report it to social services and endure they know the child is roaming around unsupervised

punisher5112

Wow amtc glad as others have said you figured out the keys were gone before they had a chance.

This is the new Ireland it seems and you honestly can't trust anybody.

Usually the kids are put in through open windows so they fit in and then usually open the door.

I would suggest fitting a hidden cctv camera or 2 but nothing too obvious as this may only be the start.

I am annoyed and very angry that this is the sort of thing going on and your own home should be safe and to think that a neighbour would do this is even worse.

If this kid comes back again as I said before get him out straight away and be firm also let everyone and anyone know whats going on.

ronjo

amtc wrote: »

Same thing happened again last night. I was off work early so home at 4.Now before anyone tells me off despite it being a nice night I had my door shut. However I had a friend over who smokes and was outside when he saw said child wandering up. He promptly took child by the arm and brought him home. Mother again not all that concerned.

Anyway mentioned it in work and was told this is quite common to send kids in to get keys and bring home. These are very new neighbours by the way. I have a spare set of keys here quite accessible. Hadnt checked since last time. Anyway after my colleague told me this I checked. Guess what gone.


I rang the guards and spent 200 euro getting my locks changed.

I'm disgusted. I've lived here for ten years and although nothing gone I feel violated.

So was he coming to bring the keys back this time after they had been copied or something else?

uck51js9zml2yt

Or was he just being a 3year old who likes keys and was playing with them.
I know my son went through a phase of looking in the pockets of family and friends for their keys.
He's now into money!

username123

I must be the only person reading this thread who would just put a strange child in my home out the front door and shut it! Not my responsibility.

The key stealing thing is weird but wouldn't surprise me if true.

tinkerbell

amtc wrote: »

Yeah. Actually got the keys back. A convenient accident apparently. Guards told me same thing though is common ruse. Complete coincidence I said it in work though. I was kind of thinking I was over reacting.

These people are only here a week so I'm going to call the property management company later.

I know I shouldn't have a spare set of keys around but I need them to put my bins out. Thankfully my mate was here and will be here all day. And have new keys.

Bit shaken up though. Even my mate was as was worried going to get accused of being child abductor. He has a toddler himself so at least knew what to do.

Haven't slept all night as you can imagine.

OMG. This is just crazy. I'd never heard of this type of thing before, bloody hell :eek: How did you manage to get the keys back??

Chattastrophe!

Any chance the €200 you spent on getting the locks changed might be covered under house or contents insurance? I've no idea if it would be, but just a thought. I'm guess it would probably be below the excess though.

It's a shocking thing to have happened and I will admit I'd be worried about having that family as neighbours after the incident. You should probably consider getting an alarm, if you don't already have one.

I'm surprised that, when you had the child there for so long while trying to contact his mother, you didn't notice he had the keys? The pockets of kids' clothes are so tiny, and they'd have been making noise. The keys ended up in that house, but it seems entirely possible that it might have been another member of the family that was in your house and took them (presumably to copy) and it was easy to blame the kid.

You got off lightly this time, no harm done, just see it as a warning.

irish gent

Now that's insane I would be freaking out at the parents of the child , And If it keeps on happening I would go straight to the Garda about this. Jesus only 3 years old reading this makes me so mad. Just go to the Guards now !!

Raminahobbin

I never would have thought of that :eek:

If that is what happened, that's despicable. Using kids to do dirty work like that. I despair sometimes. Hope you're okay OP, and I hope you feel a bit more justified being firm with the kid if they try something like this again.