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Original poster

And lo, the screaming in gardens has started

447 replies

Lludmilla · 24/03/2020 13:29

Kids have been off school 1.5 days. That didn't take long, did it??

(And yes, I know this is a polarising topic on here, but today I'm really struggling to wfh due to constant screaming from kids playing in gardens. And no, I don't mean shouting or laughing or giggling, none of which I'd have a problem with... I mean full-on, top-of-the-lungs screaming.)

I get that we have to make allowances/keep things in proportion etc etc at a time like this, I really do. I also get that it's nice that we at least have some sunshine during all this, and I think it's great that kids can play in their gardens. But the SCREAMING. It's like this every single year in my street as soon as the sun dares to show its face, it gets to me and makes it hard to concentrate on work, and sometimes I need to vent even though I know I'm likely to get a pasting for it.

Surely it can't just be me?

OP posts:
Homeschool101 · 24/03/2020 14:09

They’re kids. Whose lives have been upended. And are stuck in their homes indefinitely. So yes, I think on this occasion you’re being pretty intolerant.

Oh come on!! I've got four kids and I absolutely cannot abide screaming. It really gets to me and my kids get short shrift if they start.

Taciturn · 24/03/2020 14:11

Noise cancelling headphone with nothing coming through them...

SinkGirl · 24/03/2020 14:11

My twins are not screamers - we were out in the garden on the swings earlier and gave the neighbour a fright as she was working in their garden room and didn’t know we were there.

They have been through horribly screechy phases though - one used to be so bad that he terrified his twin to the point he’d hyperventilate crying. Nothing I can do about it - they’re non verbal and have no understanding of language.

DH works from home and he has to work through their general noise, meltdowns etc. He listens to music

elshajd · 24/03/2020 14:11

Deal with it. We all have to deal with it - I was trying to sleep this morning when toddlers were noisy in the garden next door but you just have to accept it and get on with it. I would prefer that they were disturbing my sleep now than turning up at hospital seriously ill in a few days time.

TheWordmeister · 24/03/2020 14:13

Why do some kids scream? So annoying.

Honestly, it may just be luck or draconian parenting, but mine were never screamers.

YoTheGinPussyOfStMawesOnThigh · 24/03/2020 14:13

My old neighbours where I used to live had boys who played football from early morning to dusk every day. This was accompanied by shouting and lowing like cattle. They would go in at night and then the parents would be out there having ‘gatherings’ with loud shrieking. I was thinking only earlier today how glad I am that I have moved house.

noisehelp · 24/03/2020 14:14

willowpatterns Tue 24-Mar-20 13:44:16 Children do not have to scream like banshees for hours in order to have fun. Children have no right to irritate the shit out of the entire neighbourhood just because they are bored. Playing outside yes, making a bit of a noise and laughing, yes. Persistent screaming at the top of their voices? No.

^This. 'poor children who's lives have been upended and have to stay at home indefinately' yes, but so has my life been upended and I have to stay home indefinately as well but I'm not sitting here screaming at the top of my lungs and disrupting the neighbours. Playing, laughing, talking, noisy toys yes all fine, but screaming at the top of your lungs no that's not fine.

snappycamper · 24/03/2020 14:14

They’re kids. Whose lives have been upended. And are stuck in their homes indefinitely. So yes, I think on this occasion you’re being pretty intolerant.

This.

MinnieMountain · 24/03/2020 14:14

@TatteredOwl it was a friend's DC, once, last year. We got them to stop immediately.

I was being light hearted about the "more tolerant". One neighbour works in her shed. We had a general polite conversation about DS making normal noise and her understanding.

SchadenfreudePersonified · 24/03/2020 14:15

There's one screaming outside at the back of us at this very moment!

It's awful - but she's a child and over-excited. I try to ignore it but it does cut through your mind like a hot knife through softened butter.

Isadora2007 · 24/03/2020 14:15

I’m sure parents trying to WFH are having it far tougher than those who have noisy neighbours quite honestly. Noise cancelling headphones or upgrade your double glazing. I also don’t believe that anyone other than someone who is not neurotypical will scream “continuously” as it would hurt them.

Poppinjay · 24/03/2020 14:16

Additional needs aside, decent people don't let their children scream, a bit like they don't let their dogs bark. If it starts, they deal with it.

As a parent, you take responsibility for managing their behaviour and they learn. It really isn't difficult.

I don't think anyone can honestly say that hearing children screaming like stuck pigs is pleasurable.

Pishposhpashy · 24/03/2020 14:16

Ffs what do you want them to do? We all have to adapt. I haven't got a garden and I'd love one for my DS to be in right now.

CheekyMango · 24/03/2020 14:17

People have forgotten how to parent. The occasional screaming fine but if it's all the time YADNBU!

UserDeleted · 24/03/2020 14:18

Noise cancelling headphones. Hmm The cure all. The whole family can wear them to get peace from screamers. Screw interacting with your own family and spending any pleasant time with them. The screamers need to scream, play is impossible without it so suck it up. Hilarious.

BorsetshireBlueBalls · 24/03/2020 14:18

Order them some Lego/paints/swingball to be delivered and when it arrives, send it round with a nice note pleading for parental intervention on the screaming? If it's children with cognitive/communication challenges, you may just have to suck it up and use headphones, (never tried them, so I don't know how good they are) but I know some kids play 'how loud can you scream' just because it's fun. Not on, especially in the present circumstances when everyone has to be at home, unless you live in glorious isolation somewhere, and parents should step in and insist on a bit of consideration for others.

Iminaglasscaseofemotion · 24/03/2020 14:18

I hear you op. No kids here screaming, but I know so many people who let their children scream at the top of their lungs while they play, or just to get attention, and they just look at them adoringly or ignore it. You can tell your children not to scream, it's OK, it won't scar them for life.

goldfinchfan · 24/03/2020 14:18

I used to live next door to a child who did really scream every day in the summer.
He had summer breaks form his Medication and liked to scream for hours.
It was horrible.

anguauberwaldironfoundersson · 24/03/2020 14:20

OP you must live on my street. As soon as there is a whisper of sun we get the constant banging of balls hitting the fence, the whinging of the two kids next door because they can't share, the screaming and crying because they can't get their own way which leads to Dad yelling at the top of his voice to shut up. Normal kids playing sounds are lovely but the sounds I'm going to be hearing for the next few weeks really grate.

Usually it's restricted to early evenings and weekends outside the holidays and I don't care about the holidays because I'm in work.

We've decided to put a home office in the upstairs part of the house that's furthest away from the back garden. It means we lose the spare room but it's better than than our sanity!

Disclaimer... I have a 14 month old DD. I am sure I will be getting my own back when the two kids next door are teens (evil laugh!)

Reginabambina · 24/03/2020 14:20

If at all possible binge watch tv/paint you kitchen/whatever and then do work later.

PaulHollywoodsSexGut · 24/03/2020 14:21

As much as it would get on my tits we have to pull together in the exceptional circumstances and also use wisdom:

As some PPs have said on here, please don’t complain otherwise you’ll end up with either a black eye or coronavirus, neither an optimal outcome.

Everyone is just frazzled to shit and we just have to HAVE TO ride it.

ffswhatnext · 24/03/2020 14:21

The screamers and the yappy dogs are so glad most of the residents have buggered off elsewhere, and the rest of us are staying at home.

Love hearing children laughing as they are having fun. They can play without sounding like they are on a bloody roller coaster all day, but louder and scretchier (sp?). It's grating. Drove me insane when my own used to do it for a couple of seconds. Never mind hours.

I tried all sorts to get mine to stop. What worked, I screamed back.I don't know who was more shocked, them or me. But mum going crazy seemed to do the trick. Oh I don't mean at them, I mean like they were doing.

Although how I managed not to burst out laughing when asked, why mummy do that?

Worked on tantrums as well. They came, and soothed me, asking if I was ok,

It eventually created a dialogue to find other ways that would save any shred of sanity I still had.

Hope my experience helps someone out there currently pulling their hair out, whilst trying to stop their eardrums exploding.

bernardswatchplease · 24/03/2020 14:22

Last year one of my neighbours children screamed non stop in the garden it drove me mad! Absolutely no reason for it and I'm talking about full blown screaming. Not a few moments of overexcitement per day it was absolutely non stop. It was awful and absolutely bad parenting to allow it to carry on.

TheWordmeister · 24/03/2020 14:23

When mine were small and had friends here and the volume got loud in the garden, I'd be straight out there to tell them to watch the noise.

This is what considerate people do. We have a very large garden, but we still have neighbours who might be in their gardens.

I have a friend who told me 'that's what kids do' when I told her 3-year-old to stop squealing. Only if you let them! It's poor parenting imo.

Inkpaperstars · 24/03/2020 14:23

I can remember being very young and being told off for screaming...it wasn't necessary and I knew it. Definitely very rude and inconsiderate to let continued screaming go on.