So summer's here and my house is apparently the neighborhood feeding ground. The kids, mine, aren't allowed off our block and so most of the kids in the neighborhood hang around here running in and out to use the bathroom, get snacks, etc. It seems most days I feed at least two extra kids lunch. I
usually send them home for dinner but it's not exactly uncommon for us to end up with extras at dinner as well.
On the one hand I sorta love this as I really get to know the kids and I don't really allow my kids to go into other peoples houses at all unless I know them really well. So I'd prefer they all hang out around here. The 2-3 kids that tend to eat lunch here daily are kids I now know well but don't know their parents aside from phone calls asking permission to take them swimming to the lake and what not. But their kids eat here EVERYDAY. How come they're not called home for lunch ever? And I KNOW it's not as if they eat here and then eat there as well because they are literally around here ALL day.
I'm good with the snacking. I don't mind handing out otter pops, watermelon, crackers, cheese, etc. But the lunch and dinner guests are getting rather tiresome. They'd probably be here for breakfast as well 'cept I've instituted a "no ringing the doorbell before 10:30 am" rule.
So how do other parents handle feeding the neighborhood. I want the kids here, I like them hanging out around here, but they're eating me out of house and home.
