Our neighbor kids, a 6yo girl and a 4yo boy, are concerning me a bit. They have a new baby sister, and the mom and baby are inside all day and the two kids are outside all day, every day. That in and of itself isn't necessarily worrisome -- I know plenty of people who spent their childhoods outside and loved it. But I get an "off" feeling with these kids sometimes.
They often tell me they're hungry -- the boy has knocked on my door before just to tell me that he was hungry (I told him to go home and tell his mom and he said okay, but I didn't watch to see if he did). And this morning we ran into them when we were walking home from the park and the girl kept asking my DS what he had for breakfast and whether he had any left. I know that stuff could be just innocent child's chatter (and the kids are thin but not scrawny), but it keeps sticking out in my mind.
Also, they were kind of far from their house when we saw them this morning -- I was surprised to see them and looked around to see if their mom was nearby. When I didn't see her I asked if they were supposed to be there by themselves and the girl said, "Yes, we can go to the park and back." Again, I know different families have different rules about stuff like this, and the park is pretty close as the crow flies, but to get there you have to go around several neighborhood street corners and down a long path in between two apartment buildings. But I guess, since they're outside all day, they have to be able to go to the park and play...
I don't know, no one thing really stands out as Absolutely Wrong, but it's all starting to add up and give me a bad feeling. I feel bad for them and want to (and do!) give them some attention, but honestly we don't play out front very often, and for some reason I feel uncomfortable having them in our backyard or our house (and obviously I won't let my DS go over to their house), so we don't get much opportunity to hang out with them. And of course their mom could be depressed or the baby could be high-needs and that may be contributing to this stuff with the older kids. We moved into the neighborhood a few months ago, right when the baby was born, so I don't know how things were with them before.
Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I guess just an outsider's perspective -- someone who can see things more clearly or has BTDT and has some advice.
They often tell me they're hungry -- the boy has knocked on my door before just to tell me that he was hungry (I told him to go home and tell his mom and he said okay, but I didn't watch to see if he did). And this morning we ran into them when we were walking home from the park and the girl kept asking my DS what he had for breakfast and whether he had any left. I know that stuff could be just innocent child's chatter (and the kids are thin but not scrawny), but it keeps sticking out in my mind.
Also, they were kind of far from their house when we saw them this morning -- I was surprised to see them and looked around to see if their mom was nearby. When I didn't see her I asked if they were supposed to be there by themselves and the girl said, "Yes, we can go to the park and back." Again, I know different families have different rules about stuff like this, and the park is pretty close as the crow flies, but to get there you have to go around several neighborhood street corners and down a long path in between two apartment buildings. But I guess, since they're outside all day, they have to be able to go to the park and play...
I don't know, no one thing really stands out as Absolutely Wrong, but it's all starting to add up and give me a bad feeling. I feel bad for them and want to (and do!) give them some attention, but honestly we don't play out front very often, and for some reason I feel uncomfortable having them in our backyard or our house (and obviously I won't let my DS go over to their house), so we don't get much opportunity to hang out with them. And of course their mom could be depressed or the baby could be high-needs and that may be contributing to this stuff with the older kids. We moved into the neighborhood a few months ago, right when the baby was born, so I don't know how things were with them before.
Anyway, I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I guess just an outsider's perspective -- someone who can see things more clearly or has BTDT and has some advice.
They weren't outside when we went out to play (unusual already! 
), so we went to their house to get them and the mom came to the door with them and was very pleasant, and the kids were freshly bathed and totally uninterested in the apples and grapes I had put out. They had a great time riding scooters and playing ball with my kids and we made plans to play again in a few days. Also, they went back in their house when we were done playing instead of staying out, so maybe all the times I've seen them out it's just because ... that's where they want to be. 
