Man Asked Neighbor to Stop Letting Her Son Dig Holes in His Yard

A homeowner is not digging the way his neighbor’s son is digging holes into his lawn so he confronted his mom — and got a surprising response.

The man chronicled the shocking interaction with his neighbors on Reddit’s “Am I the A——” forum, where he asked if he’s wrong for not wanting his yard destroyed by a boy pretending to be a treasure-burying pirate.

“I live in a quiet suburban neighborhood with your standard backyard, some grass, a few old trees, a weathered shed. Nothing fancy, but I keep it tidy,” he wrote. “I’m on polite-but-not-close terms with most neighbors. We wave, sometimes chat about the weather, and that’s about it.”

“There’s a family two doors down with a boy who’s maybe 9 or 10. He’s gone full pirate mode,” he continued. “Fully committed. Eyepatch, cardboard sword, yelling, ‘ye be cursed’ at squirrels. Honestly? Pretty wholesome.”

Then, holes started appearing in the man’s yard. 

“One morning I went out and found the ground behind my shed completely torn up, with clumps of grass tossed around and a ‘map’ pinned to the tree with a stick,” he recalled. “Eventually, I caught him out there mid-dig. I asked him what he was doing and he straight up said, ‘I’m hiding my treasure. No one must know. This is the perfect hiding spot.’ ”

“I told him calmly, ‘Hey, this is my yard. You can’t dig here.’ He got a little huffy but ran off,” he continued. “I figured that was the end of it. Nope.”

The following day, the man found a much bigger hole — with a tin lunchbox sticking out of it —  behind his shed. 

“I dig it up and it’s full of Pokémon cards, fake jewels, toy coins, and a few crumpled five dollar bills. I bring it to his mom and explain what’s going on,” he said. “She immediately gets defensive. No apology. Just a heavy sigh and a ‘Well he’s just using his imagination. I think it’s sweet. Can’t you just let him have this? It’s not like your grass is that nice anyway.’ ”

The mom’s reaction “stunned” the man, which resulted in him reiterating that he didn’t want anyone to dig holes on his property. 

“I handed over the box and left,” he remembered. “That night, she sends a long text telling me I humiliated her son and crushed his imagination and ‘created an environment where children can’t feel safe being children.’ She said he cried for over an hour and now thinks I’m ‘the villain in his story.’ ”

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Wondering if he overreacted, he asked Redditors, “[Am I the a——] for not letting my neighbor’s kid ruin my lawn in the name of imagination?”

Most readers agreed that the man was right to set a boundary.

“NTA [not the a——]. His mom is on the hook for teaching her kid to channel his creative impulses into productive endeavors, not destructive ones,” one Redditor wrote, summarizing the sentiment most readers had.

“When he grows up unable to properly establish relationships, he’ll realize that his problems stem from the fact that he was never taught to respect others,” that person concluded. “When that time comes he’ll see that his mom is the actual ‘villain in his story.’ ”