My Neighbor Made My Kids Hand over Every Apple That Fell Into Our Yard – I Showed My Husband the Photos, and He Came up with a Plan
My Neighbor Called My Kids Thieves Over Fallen Apples—So My Husband Taught Him a Lesson
Our neighbor Dale’s apple tree hung over our fence, constantly dropping fruit into our yard. One afternoon, he ordered my six- and seven-year-old children to collect every fallen apple for him—then called them thieves.
My daughter became afraid to play near the tree, so my husband documented the overhanging branches, contacted an arborist, and sent Dale a simple choice: collect “his property” every evening or allow professional pruning.
Dale refused, even after an inspection revealed a damaged branch hanging above our swing set. We legally trimmed the dangerous and overhanging limbs, dramatically reducing the apples falling into our yard.
Dale eventually admitted he shouldn’t have involved the children. The lesson was simple: you can’t claim every benefit of ownership while forcing someone else—especially children—to handle the consequences.
