Are they important to you? And how do you get to know them?

I do think they can be very important and that we (society as a whole) has gotten away from knowing our neighbors. We've always had pretty decent neighbors though I wish we interacted a bit more. Of course most of our neighbors are older and have grandchildren while we have younger children. We're at different stages of our lives.

That said, most of them are pretty nice and I really have no one that I attempt to avoid! I have noticed though that you really get to know people when you're working out in your front yard on a beautiful day!

I totally agree. We know our neighbors pretty well, but I think it would be nicer to know a few of them even better. There is nothing better than a good neighbor when you find yourself in a pinch (locked out, can't get home to let the dogs out, need a cup of milk, etc.). We have to remember that to have good neighbors (just like friends) you have to be a good neighbor. One of my goals this year is to make an effort to welcome newbies to the neighborhood. Thanks for reminding me of this. We just had a new family move in a few houses down the street.

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"A Father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in His holy dwelling. God sets the lonely in families…"
Psalm 68:5-6a

I LOVE getting to know and be friends with neighbors. Moved once where it was too rural to have neighbors... yuck

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May you be fully aware of all God's blessings today.

Think big! Change the world! One A.R.K at a time.

That is how we got to know our neighbors also, by being in the yard doing work. When we first moved to our house and if we were outside the neighbors would actually come over and introduce themselves. So now when we have new ones, we try to do the same thing and make them feel welcomed to the neighborhood!

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I don't know how 'important' they are to me...if I didn't know someone, or didn't like someone, it really wouldn't keep me up at night. LOL We know all our neighbors and get along just fine with everyone. We're much closer to some of our neighbors than others, just like with anything - you click with some people better than others. We meet/get to know a lot of people in our neighborhood when we take walks, hang out at the pool/tennis courts, work in the yard etc

Our immediate neighbors on either side of us are great. I know that if the kids needed help, they could go to either house. They're both 'normal' people...LOL.

We've really been lucky to be blessed with good neighbors no matter where we lived (in the US at least LOL...don't get me started on my Swiss neighbors!).

I don't fit in with our neighbors. I'm afraid I have the reputation of being the 'mean' mom because I don't let ds stay up half the night (outside) like some of our neighbors do. I've even had moms ask me why ds goes to bed so early, when he was 3 people told me he went to bed early (he was 3!!).

I guess I don't 'go with the flow' like some people do, I stand up for what I believe in. Let me set this straight that I'm not talking about any one on this tread, I'm talking about my neighbors. We have neighbors that let other neighbor kids clobber Their kids because they are friends with the moms and don't want to make waves. Yes they might clobber each other but you are not supposed to allow it!

Yes it's lonely and now I know why my mother didn't socialize much with Her neighbors, because they were just like ours, 40 years ago!! At least the kids get together well, ds being an only, I think it is really important that he have friends he can hang with. But I still feel like I am shunned!

Our block is a mixture of elderly folks and younger people with kids. I know most of them, and there are only acouple we don't click with (one is the drunk manic depressive man next door and another is an old biddy that has too much time on her hands spying on everyone ). I have learned alot from some of the elderly neighbors about gardening. Everyone keeps an eye out for everyone else. Acouple years ago we had a man trying to break into homes so everyone went on a neighborhood watch mode.
We have helped several neighbors because they know dh and I are in the medical field. So I suppose it's good for them that they know us.

I too am known as the mom that gets her kids to bed early, but no one judges me on it. They know that my girls are early risers, and if I let them stay up playing outside past 9 they will be cranky the next day.

Where we used to live I really did not know our neighbors until they were getting ready to move and we really liked them. Now that we moved we got to know 2 of our neighbors- the one is really starting to bother us (long story but we are still nice to her) and the other neighbors are great (We get along with the couple, their kids are good and their youngest girl is the same age as ours and they play good together!).