Mum Renee Barendregt divides internet with neighbourhood feud over ball game
Adelaide mum Renee Barendregt was left furious after a nasty next-door neighbour stoush – but not everyone agrees she was in the right.
Lifestyle
Don't miss out on the headlines from Lifestyle. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Local mum Renee Barendregt has set TikTok alight with fierce debate after sharing details of a neighbourhood stoush over a backyard soccer game.
Single mum-of-three Ms Barendregt took to the platform to reveal she was kicking a ball with her son when a complaint from the neighbour left her “shaking and fuming”, culminating in a vicious war-of-words sure to make taking the bins out an awkward experience going forward.
But not everyone agrees she was in the right.
“I was playing ball with my son, my five-year-old son, and we were kicking it in the goals and, god forbid, he hit the fence a few times,” Ms Barendregt explained of what prompted the argument.
“She yelled at my kids, ‘You kids stop hitting that fence!’,” she recalled, saying the neighbour was concerned the pounding would frighten her pets.
“I said, ‘take your animals inside … I’m playing with my five-year-old son with a ball that is accidentally hitting your fence that is actually my fence too’,” she hit back, to which the neighbour responded: “How about you teach your children some respect?”
The visibly aggravated mother shot back that it was just was an accident and he “wasn’t doing it maliciously”, which only fired the neighbour up further, prompting threats to record the exchange.
“Go ahead, who are you gonna show, the police? Pretty sure they have bigger fish to fry,” she continued.
“But I will not stop playing ball with my son, and my son will not stop kicking the ball and if it accidentally hits your fence, get over it.”
In one final blow to the disgruntled neighbour, she kicked the ball square into the fence and said: “Here is one f***ing more.”
The passionate video left followers divided, many of whom chose to side with the neighbour, imploring her to “take your kids to the park” instead.
“Why would you put the goal right up against the fence?,” another posed.
“You both share the fence so I think it’s just polite to stop kicking the ball into it when you could just move the net?
“You don’t know what’s happening on the other side just because it’s not affecting you.”
Others backed Ms Barendregt’s frustration, with one writing: “A family should be entitled to play in their own damn yard! Cannot believe there is even a question here!”
Another mused the situation could have been handled differently.
“A simple knock on your door and politely asking you to move the goal could’ve changed the whole situation.”
One more applauded Ms Barendregt’s feisty approach: “The way you kicked the ball at the end had me in stitches. From one gal with terrible neighbours to another, I give you strength.”