i recently took a new family a few weeks ago. they aren't neighbors but live within a half mile or so from us. things are working out fairly well. anyway, they have since started walking by my house at least every other day, pretty often actually. they walk with the baby in the stroller and come by and say hi and chat if we are outside. its almost like they are looking to see if we are home and what we are doing though they don't knock on the door or ask to come in (chatting if we are out front or something). there is a really nice walking trail by their house which they pass and go out of the way to get to my subdivision for the walk. i hate to be so suspicious but it is sort of rubbing me the wrong way. one day my DH sent my daughter out front by herself to get into the car to go somewhere (I wasn't okay with this, shes only 3 and we talked about it later). anyway, they walk by with my 3 year old unattended in the front yard and getting into the car by herself and i just feel like eventually, something will be said about whatever they are seeing on these walks. i just hate that I have been burnt so many times by DC parents and feel that I am being spied on even though that may not be the case. Can you see that I have trust issues with parents? I'd love to assume that they are just friendly and having a nice walk but most of me does not believe that. They are constantly asking if their child is alright here, if everything is okay, over and over and need lots of reassurance that their kid is not being abused or something. Any recommendations on handling this type of parent?

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I think it is a little weird. I would feel the same way you do, but I have trust issues and an overactive imagination, so take it for what it's worth. It could be going either way:

1) they simply like taking walks together and going by your house is just the way they go.

2)They are spying on you.

You could casually mention in passing how nice it is that they're so active by having all these family walks! If they really are spying on you, maybe they'll get the hint.

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I don't know about you, but unless I "know" someone I rarely notice them. I lost a foster dog one time, long story short she was an escape artist. Anyway I looked for her for several weeks and couldn't find her. The about two months ago we seen her walking with her new owner. She was missing two years. Since we "found her" we have seen her two or three times since then out walking. Until I knew to look for her in the area I never noticed her. Maybe they always walked by your house it is just more noticeable now. If they are just spying. If they "find" something out that makes them want to pull thier child, let them go. Not worth the hassle.

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I live in a very small neighborhood, so I will take the same route every day or so for a while, then change routes after a while. I get tired of taking the same path. If I had another neighborhood I could cross over to go into, I would. I love to look at other people's houses.

But, we only have about 25 streets in the whole neighborhood, so it gets boring really fast.

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I'd find it a little odd and maybe ask them to stop. Let them know that you feel odd seeing one of your daycare kids outside of daycare hours so often. I had a couple who walked by often with their baby and dogs and my daycare kids would often reach through the gate to pet the dogs but even so I barely recognized the couple when they showed up for an interview. Since then they stopped walking by in the evenings to respect my privacy and need for distance during my off hours. If they don't stop after you talk to them about it I would walk inside every time they start coming close and return outside after they have past by. (I do this for some neighbors of mine that I don't like talking to everyday but it's just the path they take to get home from work.)

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