Neighbor parents tell their 7-year-old to sneak into the pool next door, but the homeowner refuses to allow him to swim without supervision: ‘I became an unpaid lifeguard and babysitter'

She was trying to keep their child safe, but that somehow made her the villain in the neighborhood. 

A pool is a lot of fun, but also a lot of responsibility. Like a boat or a jet ski, pools are the kind of commodity that is best kept at arm's length to avoid the potential responsibility that comes with them. You always want to have a close friend with a pool, boat, or jet ski, but managing your own (storing it, cleaning it, paying for it, and accepting all the liability that comes with the fun) is a colossal burden.

As a parent with a pool, this burden is compounded because the safety of your kiddos, as well as their friends, their friends' parents, and apparently every neighbor kid on the street. Because once the temperature starts rising, AC bills get higher, and the thought of a sweet little drink by the poolside starts becoming irresistible, your pool will become the most poppin' spot in the neighborhood…

…Whether you like it or not. 

A 37-year-old mom recently bought a house with a pool at the end of the street, and for her, it was a dream come true. That is, until she learned about all the ways that homeownership differs from pool ownership. Her own children loved the pool and played like fish until they were pruney on every finger, and sometimes she was gracious enough to let the kids next door come over to play, too. But when the entitled parents next door started seeing her yard and her pool as a free public playground, the lines between fun, responsibility, and property liability started to blur. 

No parent wants to be on the hook if something awful happens on their watch, but even when you're not watching, if it's your pool, it's your responsibility. 

However, the neighbor parents didn't agree. Instead of asking for permission when their kid wanted a dip, they encouraged a 7-year-old to hop the fence and play in the pool all by his lonesome: No supervision, no parent, and nobody to ensure he stayed safe. But when the homeowner caught them doing this, they tried to brush it off as she owed them the free lifeguard duty, but she wouldn't budge. Now she's facing the backlash in the neighborhood group chat, but the peer pressure will never shake her resolve to parent the boy next door when it seemed like his own parents had lost the plot.