Would you find it strange of me to say that I've lived in this house for nearly two years and I don't have that neighbourly relationship with next door that you would expect to have after two years. Now for the first 4 or so months we had different people there to who we have now , the first lot were a family about our age. They had a baby and we had a baby. You would think this gave us some common ground, we didn't once exchange words. I think the closest we got to knowing each other was a smile at the local shop.
When they moved out (which was kind of a relief as he was obviously a drum/guitar teacher) we hoped that we would get to know the next neighbours that moved in. And do we know them? do we even know names of the people we live next too? We don't.
The closest I got to getting to know them was a conversation over the garden fence , I think she's a single mum with a boy half Oli's age. I only say I think she's single as I've never seen a man but I know that means nothing - he may be in the forces or they could live separately. These are the kind things I would know if I was to form a relationship with this person, should I sit around waiting for her to make the first move? She might be just as shy as me.
Do we really need neighbours in this day of age? There's neighbourly advice available at the touch of a computer mouse but then they are not people who can sign for your parcels/fill your sugar pot. I remember growing up knowing who all my neighbours were and it came me a sense of security as a child knowing the people on the other side of the wall. Should I be creating neighbourly relationships for Oli's sake? But then again its not like we plan on staying in this house for life.
When we ran out of baby wipes one day I said to the other half that we should pop next door and ask if we can borrow a few which of course we would return (in form of a new packet) but he was horrified at this. I guess he thought it uncomfortable to ask someone who is practically a stranger to borrow something. But if it was the other way round and she was to need anything at all I would hope she would knock and ask. After all, it is the neighbourly thing to do.
Am I only one who has a distant relationship with my neighbour yet they are only next door? Do you even get on with your neighbours?
When they moved out (which was kind of a relief as he was obviously a drum/guitar teacher) we hoped that we would get to know the next neighbours that moved in. And do we know them? do we even know names of the people we live next too? We don't.
The closest I got to getting to know them was a conversation over the garden fence , I think she's a single mum with a boy half Oli's age. I only say I think she's single as I've never seen a man but I know that means nothing - he may be in the forces or they could live separately. These are the kind things I would know if I was to form a relationship with this person, should I sit around waiting for her to make the first move? She might be just as shy as me.
Do we really need neighbours in this day of age? There's neighbourly advice available at the touch of a computer mouse but then they are not people who can sign for your parcels/fill your sugar pot. I remember growing up knowing who all my neighbours were and it came me a sense of security as a child knowing the people on the other side of the wall. Should I be creating neighbourly relationships for Oli's sake? But then again its not like we plan on staying in this house for life.
When we ran out of baby wipes one day I said to the other half that we should pop next door and ask if we can borrow a few which of course we would return (in form of a new packet) but he was horrified at this. I guess he thought it uncomfortable to ask someone who is practically a stranger to borrow something. But if it was the other way round and she was to need anything at all I would hope she would knock and ask. After all, it is the neighbourly thing to do.
Am I only one who has a distant relationship with my neighbour yet they are only next door? Do you even get on with your neighbours?