Disciplining other people's kids

Cameron_1969

I live in a neighborhood where there are a ton of kids (nearly all boys). They are constantly coming in and out of my house and yard. It's hard to know just how to discipline someone else's kids! I certainly don't mean physical discipline, just things like making them clean up their messes and / or sending them home when they don't behave or if they disobey an instruction.

I don't want to be a hard-*kitten* and I'm NOT, but I do have certain rules and I really can't stand being ignored or repeatedly disobeyed. There are a couple of kids that come over all the time who's parents have no control over them. They are great kids, but they completely ignore their dad when he tries to tell them to do something. . I've had to send them home on several occasions for this tendency to ignore me.

Then, there's the little 5 year old girl who is a GIANT Pain in the you-know-what! She whines and demands attention. . She's a prima donna and a liar and a thief!. The other kids tend to shun her because of all this (wouldn't you?). .So I have to keep telling my boy to be nice to her etc, but sometimes it's difficult because I see where he's coming from!. . She's the only girl in the neighborhood, so she really needs to learn how to play with the boys, but in the meantime I have to sort of keep the other kids from bullying her (i.e. excluding her and ignoring her and yelling at her and calling her names etc).

Anyway. .I have no idea what I hope to gain by posting this here. . maybe I'm just venting. . What kinds of experiences have y'all had with the neighbor's kids?