TP-ing: Can we please stop this before my kids get to middle school?

On Saturday and Sunday mornings as I drive through the neighborhood, I inevitably see a couple of homes and yards that have been artfully decorated with long white strands of toilet paper. Every time I drive past one of these homes, I think to myself about how annoyed I would be if I woke up on Saturday morning to find toilet paper all over my trees and bushes, and I inwardly groan! Our neighbors have a new 6th-grader, and just last weekend they spent 3 hot and sweaty hours getting the TP out of their yard, and this was with all 5 family members joining the effort! Apparently it is all in good fun, almost a rite of acceptance, just as it was when we were all in middle and high school, but now that I’m the parent I just think that I will be totally annoyed if and when it happens to us.

My friend told me that the new trend is to “chalk” someone’s driveway rather than TP their yard. This seems like such a great option – no mess, fun for all involved (as long as nothing rude or inappropriate is written or drawn!), no mess, more creative, and did I mention, no mess?! In some ways, the whole thing is one big mystery to me, but I know that it will do me no good to be a naive parent.

Those of you with older kids, have you dealt with the TP-ing issue, and if so, how have you handled it? Are kids really “chalking” driveways instead, and does this seem like a better option?

Again, nothing terribly profound this Monday morning 🙂 I’ll get my act together and write about something more serious one of these days. For now, enlighten me on this very important topic, please 🙂