Helicopter parents

A few thoughts that occurred to me today are the following ones.
In the past my kids have always been able to do their things with other kids without parents messing with it. We didn't have problems with that at all. The kids in the area would fall out every now and then and be friends again later on. No big thing, those things happen with kids from very different backgrounds. If it would be that they had grown up together, like in a tribal community, things would be different.
Then we move to this neighbourhood. And then the mess started.
All parents in this neighbourhood are helicopter parents, as they are continuously meddling with things. They do not let kids sort it out on their own.
In the beginning I didn't realize that, after a while I got annoyed with it that my kids got told off by neighbours for things they hadn't even done. I knew they hadn't, as either we all had been gone, or they had been inside with me or something like that.
Then, as things didn't improve, but only went worse, I started meddling with things as well and there I am, trying very hard not to be a helicopter parent, but having to be one for the sanity of our family and the children, I need to protect them from the extremely intimidating way other parents are treating them, which even involved stuff like one of my kids having to help clean up the room of one of them right at the moment she came into the house to play and after the cleaning up, inclding the hamster cage (!!) the were kicked out. This type of stuff is totally unacceptable to me.
Moreover so as those children need to immediately come home and do not have the time to help clean the mess they made. So, as a consequence I had to interfere and make sure that neither of these things happened again.
I sooo hate not being able to just let kids have a relaxed life with other kids, but have to keep a constant eye on things as other people think they can treat them like shit.

This particularly goes for the excusing of one child with special needs, but not the other, its all so sick to me.