Parent baffled after HOA sends email threatening to ban kids drawing on sidewalks (Exclusive)
'Dear Shadowhawk Residents, this is a friendly reminder...'
Rules and regulations are great… as long as they make sense and don’t dim the light in others, especially kids. When it comes to having rules for kids, they need to exist to discipline and teach kids something of value. Unfortunately, a parent who goes by u/ponyloverr shared an HOA’s email about children’s chalk painting on sidewalks, and it has nothing of the sort. The warning to parents was that if their kids’ drawings are still there after a day, they will be “prohibited” henceforth. The ridiculous rule received much criticism and even more sarcasm from fellow Redditors, and it’s beyond hysterical. The poster, who asked to go by “Dan,” said they were initially unsure about responding because they rent within the HOA and “don’t want the boot,” but eventually agreed to speak exclusively to Scoop Upworthy.
Chalk painting, especially on sidewalks, is nothing new. In fact, many artists have embraced the idea to let their imagination flow freely, adding some color to the streets and bringing a smile to a stranger’s face. To see kids imbibing the same values is pretty great. However, that's seemingly untrue for this HOA. The email received by Dan read, “Dear Shadowhawk Residents, this is a friendly reminder that if you are using chalk to draw on the sidewalk, please clean up after yourselves. It needs to be removed the same day; otherwise, this may be prohibited in the future.” Dan captioned the post, “My HOA doesn’t like kids.”
Dan told Scoop Upworthy, “I was surprised the HOA would try to overstep like this,” noting that they chalked it up to a mix of uptight attitudes and what they jokingly described as classic Danville energy. They explained that enforcement often feels uneven. “Many neighbors leave their trash cans outside daily, but I’m the one who got a notice,” they said, adding that the HOA even sent them a warning once for something as small as leaving a broom on their deck.
There’s honestly nothing wrong with harmless chalk painting that interests kids and helps them creatively pass the time. But for this HOA, it was something that needed to go… in a day, which didn’t make sense at all. Dan mentioned that this was the first unusually strict warning they’d seen aside from reminders about quiet hours. And according to them, enforcement doesn’t seem to be happening anyway. “Other neighbors were mostly unaware, or didn’t care. I still see chalk out, haha,” they said. The internet wanted to make it clear just how reckless this caveat seemed. Several people called out the rule. u/FirstNoel said, “F**k that. Chalk drawings make it a neighborhood.” u/Fragrant-Doughnut926 added, “If this is real, I am gonna donate tons of chalk to everyone to paint the sidewalk with just different colors of chalks.”
Still others commented with more sarcastic rules the HOA could follow up with. u/Edith_Keeler_Shoes wrote, “In addition, please be advised that perpetuating the Santa myth with your young children will not be tolerated. We appreciate your understanding that any suggestion of a delivery means that involves landing a sleigh on the roof will significantly increase our insurance premiums. We have decided to add ice cream, bicycles, and dolls to our list of items prohibited from the home's interior. To appeal this process, collect a minimum of six ounces of freshly shed tears from your children in the sample vial included. The answer will still be no, but at least it will give your child something to do for an afternoon.”
As for contacting the HOA about the chalk notice, Dan didn’t bother. They joked, “I did not reach out,” noting that the HOA already has a reputation for odd decisions, like removing shrubbery and replacing it with gravel or enforcing a 24-hour rule for moving cars out of resident spots, all while expecting garages to fit two cars and trash cans.
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