A man has been branded as 'lazy' for allowing his garden to become overgrown as he tries to single-handedly care for his two children. He explained how he has been their sole caregiver since his wife was admitted into hospital with postpartum complications.
Between worrying about his wife's wellbeing, he has been struggling to juggle two children and keep up with the house work. He said on Reddit: "We had our second child back in February and I’ve been caring for the newborn and our five-year-old while my wife has been in the hospital recovering from postpartum complications."
He says he has been prioritising his children above everything else - and has put a pause on all garden and unnecessary house improvements for the meantime. But it seems his neighbours have also noticed this change in his priorities, calling him out for allowing his garden to become overgrown.
He added: "I haven’t been able to care for my yard as much as I would like over the past few months.
"At no point has my yard been out of compliance with city or HOA [homeowner association] ordinances, and at no point has anyone bothered to approach me directly about the matter."
Instead, he received a snotty letter through his door from his neighbour "congratulating" him on finally cutting his front lawn.
The letter reads: "Congratulations. You mowed. That's twice so far this year, I believe.
"Can you keep it up? Maybe weekly? Or at least every other week?
"Your neighbours would be very grateful if your house did not look like it was abandoned."
The man added: "They even postmarked it and sent it through the mail, rather than walking a few doors down and speaking to me like a human being."
So annoyed by the letter, he shared it on Reddit to ask users how he should respond - or whether he should just ignore it altogether.
In response, one user said: "My dad taught me to be the kind of neighbour where if you see something like that - a yard looking like it's falling behind in the upkeep.
"You take yourself over there with your mower and ask your neighbour if they would like some help.
"He always said you never know what someone has going on in their life and good neighbours help when they can."
Another user added: "Well that's the last time I would ever mow.
"My entire yard would return to nature before I ever mowed again - unless the city or town forced me my entire home would become a sanctuary for trees and animals."
A third user said: "Get a couple of sheep. No need to mow ever again."
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