AITAH threw away my neighbors kids’ shoes?

A 27-year-old woman (OP) discovered her neighbor’s daughter (around 9-10 years old) had been damaging her Christmas decorations by pulling candy canes out of the ground. After noticing the girl running away and leaving her fuzzy pink boots behind,

OP became frustrated and decided to throw the boots away, assuming they were discarded since they weren’t hers and had been left on OP’s property. OP didn’t want to confront the neighbors directly, as she hadn’t met them yet, and hoped that the girl would be deterred from further actions. read the original story below…

‘ AITAH threw away my neighbors kids’ shoes ?’

I (27F) opened my front door today to see my neighbors daughter sprinting home from our front lawn. I didn’t say anything or ask her what was going on because I was preoccupied with my own two kids and I was sneaking in some Amazon packages that had their Christmas gifts.

About a half hour later I’m heading out to the grocery store and I notice a pair of fuzzy pink boots just left on our lawn. I just stared and wondered how that could have been left there.

Then as I’m backing up in my car I realized why the little (9 or 10yr old) girl ran away, she was in the middle of busting our Christmas decorations. She YANKED all my candy canes out of the ground!! I was so annoyed and our camera did not catch it.

My 6yr old was so bummmed about the decorations being ruined. I didn’t feel like I could go to the neighbors because it would just be a he said she said situation and I have yet to meet them. I was so annoyed I just threw her shoes away because I figured if it was left on my property and it’s not mine it’s trash.

I figured this was easier than having a conversation with parents I don’t know yet and I just hope that me opening the door on her scared her enough to not do it again.. AITAH?

Here’s what people had to say to OP:

Secret_Sister_Sarah −  NTA She was vandalizing your property, then littered. You threw away the trash.

canvasshoes2 −  NTA. But maybe not the most useful decision? I dunno, I would have at least showed up with the boots and given it a shot. I do get not having the bandwidth to go through that kind of hassle though.

“Hey, your daughter left these on my lawn when she was pulling up my candy cane decorations. I’m not sure why she was doing that but here are her boots.”
Daughter clearly came home with no boots so… that part would lend a lot of weight to your complaint.

And if you remained calm and “let’s us adults figure this out” it may have been a case where the little girl would be the one to get into trouble and they might talk to her. If they pushed back and did the whole “our angel can do no wrong” bit, at least you’d know what kind of people they are.

waaasupla −  Fix camera to cover the whole place.

XXII78 −  Tie them together and toss them on the power lines

doggymcdog −  Hopefully , the little s**t will get in trouble from her parents for losing her shoes. That’ll teach the b**t for vandalizing your decorations.

Fickle_Toe1724 −  I would take the boots, and go to their house. Ask if the boots belong to their daughter. Do not give them the boots. If they say yes, then tell them she left them behind when she was vandalizing your property.

You expect your decorations to be replaced.  She can have the boots back, when the damage is repaired.  

SilentJoe1986 −  NTA. You might not have proof of the decorations being ruined by her, but she will catch hell for losing her boots. I’ll probably get downvoted with that opinion and you’ll probably get a bunch of paladins raising their shield chanting “but she’s a child”.

Fact is kids are capable of being assholes and she knew what she was doing is wrong. Proof is she ran away when you opened your door. Those are consequences to her actions. If your decorations weren’t ruined, then you probably would have put them on your porch in plain sight so she could get them back.

OCessPool −  NTA. Someone left trash on your lawn, you just cleaned it up while fixing your decorations

DesperateLobster69 −  NTA. I would’ve done the same thing. F**k her boots, she vandalized your Christmas decorations!!!!

OP’s decision to throw away the boots has sparked some tension, as it was an impulsive move driven by frustration. While it’s understandable that she was upset about the ruined decorations, throwing away personal belongings might not have been the best approach. What do you think? Share your thoughts below!