When I was a kid in the 70s and 80s, this wouldn't have happened. Kids, back then, got banged up pretty good and everyone knew that playing outside and even at friends' houses may get someone hurt.

Getting hurt "today" is trained into guys like the neighbor to freak out. It's on tv - it's what the main stream media (MSM) wants us to do. They want to make sure nobody gets hurt, dinged or damaged. Well, overprotecting is one thing but not understanding is another.

I wonder if the neighbor actually saw everything that went on, though. The daughter may have said "he yelled get out and hit me with the door" - the dad may have believed her. So, hard to tell what happened there.

Most paints are water-soluable and they wash off things like doors and drips on floors. Your husband has to understand a little bit about chemistry (both paint and people) so that he could have nipped it in the bud then. Instead of coming in the house, get the kids outside, bucket of water with soap in them and you'd have cleaner kids. In fact - when seeing them doing the painting, you have to actually prepare for the cleanup. Now, I would have to guess that he may have not been watching when they were doing that and his defense was to keep "those who are not mine" outside. The other kid maybe went too far trying to push her way in, though. I think he should/would/could have done differently in that situation and made it better by helping the kids cleanup without excluding the other kid. Even though the neighbor didn't have a good relationship with you guys, sounds like it is now done.

We've got a lot of wacky neighbors around me here. But it's more like everyone keeps to themselves rather than getting into skirmishes. I almost wouldn't mind more interaction with neighbors (in a good way).