By Pattie Mihalik

When I pulled into my driveway the other day, my neighbor who keeps an eye on my house came to tell me I had a problem I “had to do something about.”

Uh-oh. It sounded serious.

Fortunately, it wasn’t a problem at all.

My neighbor reported “there was a big gang of little kids” running through my yard and ruining my plants.

He’s right about that. The little kids range in age from about 4 to 6, and they do, indeed, run through my yard. In the process of exuberant play, they trample down some plants and topple solar lights.

I wish they wouldn’t ruin the solar lights, but I’m not going to tell them not to run through my yard.

That’s because even though it’s been half a century since I was a kid, I still remember the horrible woman who used to scream at my cousin and me because we were roller skating on her pavement.

Two little featherweight kids could do no harm roller skating past her house.

Since she lived three doors down from us, we couldn’t skate very far unless we went past her house. We weren’t allowed to skate in the street because there was a lot of heavy traffic whizzing by and it wasn’t safe.

My little 2-year-old cousin Johnny lost his life when he was hit by a speeding car as he was crossing that street with his mother.

The street on which I now live is even more dangerous for kids because we don’t have sidewalks. What we do have are some drivers who drive as if they are on a racetrack.

In my mind, if I lose some plants and an occasional solar light that’s nothing compared to having a child get hit by a car.

The kids who run through my yard live on both sides of me. They are only allowed to run the short distance between houses. And there is always an adult watching them.

They are not ill-behaved kids. They’re simply enjoying the games of childhood, and I like to hear their easy laughter.

I remember two kindly neighbors who were especially nice to me when I was a kid.

We didn’t have a yard, but Mrs. Kreiger did, and she was kind enough to let me enjoy the flowers in her amazing garden. The rule was that I could go in her yard whenever I wanted, as long as I didn’t pick the flowers.

A half block away another neighbor shared her wonderful dog with me. I could go there anytime I wanted to play with the dog. They even trusted me to walk it.

When the local home association sponsored a dog contest, I entered the neighbor’s dog and we came home with the blue ribbon for friendliest dog.

My dad thought it was funny that I could win the contest when I didn’t even own a dog.

It didn’t matter because what I did have was caring neighbors who were especially nice to children.

I intend to be a neighbor like that.

To tell the truth, I love having young kids in the neighborhood. It’s something that didn’t happen until the last few years.

When I see their exuberance and the way they giggle and find life so enjoyable, it teaches me something.

It teaches me not to lose the joy of life and to approach each day with the enthusiasm of children.

There is also such simplicity and innocence in their actions.

A while back one of the 6-year-old boys rang my doorbell and said, “Here, I picked these for you.”

He was offering me a bouquet of little wildflowers. Most of us would walk by those wildflowers and not give them a thought. It pleased me that the little fellow saw beauty in the wildflowers and that he wanted to share them with me.

Blake, the little boy next door, is 4, going on 40.

When I stepped out the door in a new stocking hat I bought in Italy, Blake yelled, “Pattie, I like your new hat.”

If he keeps noticing little things like that, he’s going to be a joy to others.

The other day when I was carrying a hot casserole over to a neighbor, Blake called me and asked me to come over.

I said, “I can’t now, Sweetie.”

When he told me not to call him Sweetie, I said, “OK, what should I call you?”

“Ummm, come on over and we’ll talk about it,” he said.

That cracked me up.

And the way I see it, every new neighbor is another chance to have more nifty people in your life.

Two months ago we just had two couples buy a house across the street. What a godsend they have proven to be, helping their elderly neighbors in so many ways.

The two couples have all made our neighborhood even nicer.

I thought of them when watched the uplifting Mr. Rogers movie.

It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood when you have neighbors who look out after each other.

We are all far apart in age but we are united by the belief that doing something nice for someone is simply the way to be.

Good neighbors of any age can add so much to one’s enjoyment of a neighborhood.

I am so glad I landed in the right neighborhood.

Contact Pattie Mihalik at newsgirl@comcast.net.