To love the sound of children playing...

I love hanging out the washing on a lovely sunny day and listening to the children at the local primary school (one of whom is mine) in the playground at break or lunchtime. Drive me nuts when they are in the garden though!

My neighbours (in their 60's) love listening to my dc (2 + 4) in the garden, it entertains them no end, even when they are squabbling:)

I agree! This past weekend I had 12 nephew, 9 yr son, 7 yr old daughter, and 10 yr friend playing in the yard. Love it! Loud, noisy, laughing, screaming/squealing at times, dogs barking... loved it!

Depends. A group of children out playing during the day - laughing, running around, bouncing a ball - is nice.

Kids still playing out on the road at ten o clock during the week; or leaping around on skateboards right under my window over and over; or cursing and swearing in loud voices - not nice.

I think people can be inclined to think the sound of their own children playing in sweet and melodious.

At the bottom of our garden it's definitely not Enid Blyton land, the kids continually scream while playing, real ear piercing levels.

I wish the kids next door would stop bouncing the ball of my fence thought been doing it all afternoon and is starting to get on my nerves

I do too enjoy the sound of kids playing for an hour or two, as long as its not literally in my backyard ...

Ummm.. in small doses.

I live next door to a nursery. some of the children have quite annoying whines. One little girl in particular was doing a lot of squealing today. :)

haha, Yanbu. DP and I had the same yesterday, we were eating dinner in the garden and listening to the kids laughing and screaming and generally having a good time playing some form of tag, and then we realised that they were shouting things like "You bastards! I'm going to get you next bitch!" I couldn't help but laugh really!

YANBU when it's shouting, calling, laughing etc.

When it's the constant thwack thwack thwack thwack thwackthwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack thwack of a football (like my neighbours kids) all weekend / school holidays / evenings till 10pm?

Not so much.

A couple of years ago I sadly went to the funeral of a much loved cousin.

The church where the ceremony was held backed directly onto the playground of the primary school she attended as a girl in the 50's

During the service we were given some moments to reflect upon her life and I loved hearing the children chatter in their playground during this time, in the same way she would have been chattering there several decades before.

I'm not particularly religious, but it was really comforting somehow.

Yes. Except for the ear piercing screaming/shrieking. People say oh they are just playing. Well the young girl who lived next door was always screaming, I learnt to ignore it. One afternoon it carried on and on, I went out to shout and she was dangling out the second floor window. It was so quick. She let go and fell on the patio smashing both her legs an pelvis into pieces
Seriously, if a child was screaming where I live now because someone had grabbed them or they'd been injured, nobody would notice

While I don't hate it, by the same measure I don't love it. It's just noise like any other, and like any other noise too much can be a nuisance.

I wish they had volume controls so they could be muted at times.

I don't in general mind the sound of children playing, but I do find it irritating when people smile beatifically no matter how shrieky, screamy, or annoying the noise is and coo 'oh, it's just children playing. It's a lovely sound'.

So do I. I love to see baby animals at play as well (so cute) xxx

I love it. Until it's DC's bedtime and the neighbouring kids feel the need to continue screaming and shouting right under their bedroom window (front of house) - because their parents have told them to play further away from their own house as their baby is sleeping. Wtf about my two babies, toddler and 5yo?

Loved my own kids but others no not so much, noisy little buggers!

Is my neighbour being unreasonable????

I have converted a room in my house into a classroom and I have kids coming to my house to learn English (I'm in Spain). Although it is hot, this year the weather has not been at 40º (yet), so I have been spending some time in the garden with them. I have them for an hour a day in the early evening.

Now the children are quite young and haven't found their volumen button yet and sometimes I have to work hard to control the level of noise, but it is not as though they are shrieking continuously for the entire hour. It is posible that I make more noise then them!! Anyhow, last week, my neighbour let it be known that when I have the kids in the garden, "it drives her crazy."

I said I would look into it and try and make sure I keep my voice down (as I say, I think it is me more than the little ones). Now, I feel really uncomfortable anytime the kids or my dogs are in the garden and even breathe.

I agree with the incessant noise - not aceptable, but to hear them having a good time for a short while is no problem at all in my opinión. In fact I think it's lovely.

Sorry, my computer seems to auto-correct my English to Spanish....I can spell!!!!!

I live close enough to DD's school to be able to hear them playing out at break and dinner and it's lovely
There's something nice about hearing children of any age in groups, on Sunday I saw a big group of teenagers walking through our local park and without exaggeration I can say that at least half a dozen parents steered their little ones out of the way while eyeing them suspiciously.
These teens sat down on the grass, pulled out a load of food from bags and set up a picnic, got a football out and started up a game that turned into children of all ages joining in, right down to some fairly small ones. We do have an anti social problem here sometimes but it was really nice to watch.

Actually, there was a child of about thirteen or fourteen out on the Green the other evening kicking a football and shouting really loudly at regular intervals and I was getting a bit irritated as I was trying to relax in the sun and read after a busy day in work. Then when I actually listened to him I realised he was playing with much younger kids; coaching them and encouraging the less confident ones with loud enthusiastic praise. So the noise immediately stopped bothering me. I think when you can really put noise into context and realise someone's making it for a very good reason it makes a huge difference to your reaction.

flobbadobs and vintage-

thats lovely. it would make me smile to, like a reminder in humanty at its finiest really.

our park you do get some older one taking the park over, and iv had to step in before and tell them not to fire thier bloody pellets guns in the park or to stop throwing panda pops all over the equipment.

though the other day we where at the park, youngest wanted to go on the big round swing (its a massive circle that firs up to 4 kids in and swings) there where a group of 14 up to 16 y ears old hanging round it and shriking and playing the fools, i went to get up and to help ds2 into it, (hes 4) when one boy turned round, picked him up and put him on it and started pushing him for a good ten minutes. ds loved it, and i was thankfull.

i think the older ones get a bad name, some times they deserve it, but others i think they cant do wrong for right.