Matt Villano, proud and insufferable dad, calls the cops on his neighbors in an effort to protect his brood.
Since my daughter was born in May of last year, I’ve established myself as a bit of a rabble-rouser down at the local police precinct. I’m the guy who calls the non-emergency line with emergencies only a new dad could appreciate.
When the baby was three months old, I rang about a neighbor’s “garage sale,” which was really nothing more than a pile of “Free/Take Some” garbage. I feared it would breed rats. When she was six months old, I called again, this time about a new neighbor across the street who insisted on running his band saw exclusively after 11 p.m.
Then, on the eve of her ten-month birthday, I called a third time. That episode revolved around another new neighbor, whose newbie dog bashed through his fence, running around the neighborhood and barking incessantly between the hours of 8 and 11 p.m. (The neighbor, who is a nurse or EMT or something helpful like that, was at work.)
Do we have some challenging neighbors? Absolutely. Am I crazy for going to the cops so often? Perhaps. But the way I see it, by phoning the po-po each time, I’ve simply been defending my brood.
Think about it: a trash heap full of rats is the last thing you want with an infant in the house. Nobody—especially a tiny baby—can hear (or sleep) very well when someone’s using a band saw thirty yards away. As for the dog, well, that howling beast certainly made it difficult for me to concentrate on work; I can only imagine how difficult it was for little L to get some good REM sleep in.
So I called the cops. Three times. You got a problem with that?
On my third call, dispatch recognized the number. “What seems to be the problem this time, Mr. Villano?” she asked, seeming annoyed by my very existence. “What drama is unfolding on your street tonight?” I hung up knowing I would become the butt of jokes down at the precinct. And I didn’t care.
The bottom line is that we have a baby in this house, and I’ll do whatever I must to protect her from the big, bad, scary world of suburbia. Some of our neighbors are thoughtless—and arguably dangerous. I’d like to think those police officers who are parents—and the parents among you readers—would do the same. Or, maybe I’ve lost my mind. Either way, no one messes with my kid.
About Matt Villano
Vocalyze
You have lost your mind. But that’s part of parenting. A good part of it. If you make it through without loosing your mind, you have missed out on a lot.
That sounds like what I would do if I became a parent, and I don’t want to be that way.
Weeeeell. there is a sgnificant amout of you’re brain and sociial skills you are lacking that are going to make your life, marriage, and parenting in later years nearly impossible, and actually will grow at a rapid rate until the scale will mushroom. After 38 years of parenting and 5 education and clinical psychology degrees between us( the degrees were of minimal help, allthough all our friends thought we should know what they should do.) I have survived and things worked OK. I admit that on my 1st child they got pictures of me sitting in front of his bassinet tha I placed in the corner of the living room.,with my arms crossed and a scowl on my face. I made everyone wash their hands and I had purchased a box of 50 surgical masks they had to wear to hold him. He scored a 9.? on the abgar? scale- 10 being the highest/best at the time of birth. It’s programed in our male genes, I suspect…………..BUT your over the edge in several areas, not all connected.
Here they are, each worthy of a rational column (will help with resources and advice if you want).
1) You, relationships with neighbors, and police, probably have little or nothing to do with your daughter.
But you’re socal skills and problem solvingskills and your maturity and need for attention need to be
examined. How you feel as a stay at home Dad with minor low paying partime jobs.
2) Emotionally vs intelectually vs deep down insecurities vs your public manly persona vs where you are on the “food chain” publicly, and even at home with the three of you.
3) Choosing battles; the significant ones are down the road and can be deadly serious.(this topic is more of a book than blog)
4) Embrace your neighbors. Sounds like a really nice group. The other guys have “real jobs” and manly hobbies. I’ve been a stay at home dad that co-parented the 4 boys next door, my tww boys, along with their friends that came over….with, the stay at home Mom next door. There were other parents involved.
THIS IS THE TIP OF THE?YOUR ICEBURG!
Hopefully an inspiring quote, borrowed from a friend (But, you must take care of your shit unrelatedd to parenting; it’s OK to see Mom & Dad working out problems; but NEVER EVER WITH VIOLENCE)
Quote:” Being a parent trumps every thing else you’ll ever do in life” Carol Paris.MD
I’m with you 120 percent Matt. I believe the social contract is breaking down in our culture, and people are just not sensitive to how their actions effect others. If you hide behind the blinds, let junk pile up, bad dogs run rampant, and insufferable noisemakers pollute the aural environment, you’re living in hell.
Keep it up, there’s a silent majority out there who affirm your efforts everyday.