Every neighborhood has its kids, the neighborhood kids. These small individuals are always a mixed bag. You just never know from one generation to the next what you will end up with. I mention this fact because your neighborhood is ground zero for their social development. It is your windows they will break, your garden they will destroy, your car they will dent, and your front door they will arrive at with creatures of every kind. You are gonna need to exercise what the Bible calls love. Remember you were a neighborhood kid yourself. These little citizens can actually be a lot of fun, but approach with caution. If you prove to be a friend in their estimation and they accept you into their secretive little society there are surprising benefits. Every once in a while neighborhood kids can be very useful as affordable labor. Neighborhood kids are the most discrete source local gossip and are often eager to be sent out and about to gather interesting tidbits of information that can be very entertaining and even useful. Remember you do not want your local pack of little people as enemies. They can be scourge or, with a little patience, useful allies in the quest to be that thing we call, “good neighbor”. Your challenge is to be a positive influence molding these little people into the kind of citizen that would help the elderly in their time of need. It will not be long before this is exactly the state in which you will find yourself. This is not the time to ask yourself if you did enough to warrant tolerable treatment from the your neighborhood kids.
