My neighbor made my six-year-old collect every apple that fell into our yard. He even called my kids “thieves.” My husband didn’t argue—he came up with a plan that made our neighbor regret claiming every apple.
Every year, apples from Dale’s tree fall across our yard. Last Sunday, he stood at the fence and ordered my children to collect every one.
“They’re mine. It’s my tree.”
My kids obeyed, carrying the apples back to him one armful at a time.
Then Dale looked at them and said:
“Nice. Raising thieves young, are we?”
My daughter cried.
I sent pictures to my husband, Rob, expecting him to confront Dale.
Instead, Rob told me:
“Don’t rake the apples. Leave every single one where it falls.”
He researched the property line, documented the overhanging branches, and contacted an arborist.
Soon, Rob sent Dale a calm letter explaining that if Dale considered every fallen apple his property, he could collect them himself—and that the branches over our yard would be professionally assessed.
Dale threatened to sue.
But the arborist discovered a large defective branch hanging directly over our children’s swing set.
The solution was simple: professionally prune the dangerous and overhanging branches.
The tree remained healthy, but most of the fruit no longer fell into our yard.
Dale eventually came to us and admitted he shouldn’t have involved the children.
For Rob, it had never really been about apples.
It was about making Dale understand that owning a tree didn’t give him the right to make our children feel like thieves in their own backyard.