It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood......

We suck as neighbors. We think we are good neighbors, but we aren't. We suck.

Last week I was driving down the street and in the front yard of the house just two doors down was a stork sign proclaiming "It's a BOY!" A boy? Was she pregnant? Has it been that long since I did a stop and chat? Wait, I've never done a stop and chat. I don't even know their names! I suck. I called Kristen to give her the good news. "Who?" she asked. We suck.

Oh sure, I wave at familiar cars as they drive up or down the street, and say hi when they walk past our house, but that's about it.

There is one neighbor across the street that I am chummy with. In fact it's another stay at home dad with two boys each exactly 6 months younger than my two. It would seem that this would be a perfect match for playdates and leisurely front yard conversations while the kids romped. But I hesitate to wear out the opportunity. Every time we stop by for a visit, my two completely dominate his two, to the point of embarrassment, and it winds up being a stressor for me as I try to keep things from escalating.

I can count the neighbors on our street I know by name on one hand. Again I say, we suck.

But then, as Kristen and I were on a walk around the block the other evening, we came across this. In his front yard.

And this. In his front yard.


So maybe we don't suck.