Welcome to the neighborhood. Or not.

In the past several weeks we've become the center of some neighborhood drama. Not exactly sure why but it came to a head about two weeks ago.

Our house is situated in a way we've been able to meet quite a few families in the neighborhood. While we met quite a few people during our first month here we've continued meeting our neighbors during the past year. Brendan's baseball team has introduced us to more families around us and kids for the boys to play with.

A couple of the families we met have known each other for several years. One neighbor has come down on a regular basis to bullshit with us over coffee or a few beers. Every once in awhile we'd hear about how wild our kids were. At one point I even asked Jason if he thought the boys were out of control. We didn't think they were horrible but also know our boys are boys.

I finally had a conversation with the neighbor because he'd been getting shit from his family about hanging out with us, or me, in particular. He's defended us to them, saying he likes us and will continue hanging out. The line he kept saying was how they don't know us but aren't will to do so. No problem in talking about us behind our backs, saying I'm his new girlfriend or OMG, she stayed so late type of cattiness women are known for.

How our kids are wild. Only I've seen how the other kids play. I've seen one of his kids choke Colin twice but defend his actions. The same kid kicked Brendan in the head which I chalked up to Brendan being a drama queen and the excitement of sledding. We've seen our boys be antagonized. Yet over and over, our boys are the wild ones.

We were excited in moving here a year ago. Being in a neighborhood with families. Having kids of the same age. Only the drama is making me want to give the middle finger. How long can the excuse be used they don't know us when we've been here almost a year?