Are we a nightmare to live next door to?

[squinker45]

Me and d h child mind from home. We have d s 6 and d d 4, plus up to 5 other under fives. Nice weather means the kids are in the garden every day from 830 to 930 then 3 to 5, then 5..30 to 6. The rest of the time we are out at groups, or eating or sleeping etc. Neighbours hate us! They came round to complain saying this is a nice quiet area and her kids, teenagers, could not revise under these conditions. Also that she knows the other neighbours, who have barking dogs,feel the same as she does. They are old friends and their kids are the same age. Bet it wasn't a nice quiet area ten years ago when they got the paddling pool out. Aibu to think they are being overly arsey? We have only been here six months. Semi detached house. No complaints about the noise from within the house but a clear expectation to keep noise in the garden to a whisper. We work four days a week, neighbour works 2.

saying that OP my mum lives or lived as it has shut down now behind a church which had a playgroup every morning until lunchtime with noise inside (never heard) and outside (think sandpits and Whats the Time Mr Wolf? played against church wall.

if they can keep up to however many kids under 5 of a reasonable noise level (and it was as I lived there as a teenager) then surely you can? There's a difference between children playing happily and not yelling and you being a childminder or you actually childminding and keeping an eye on them.

Well op you posted in AIBU not in legal issues.

I feel for her, I expect she'll move but she'll also lose money on the house. Nightmare.

My parents had similar, council did get involved due to noise levels and too many kids for ratio though. It is a quiet area, and the CMs house is small, so they were permanently in the garden, babies left to scream etc. A primary school comes up in searches etc so you can decide whether to live near one or not, childminders don't. I have no idea whether you are a nightmare, but this particular scenario my pare ts had was.

OP - Ideal compromise - you take kids out (play centre, park etc) on the 2 days neighbour works or try to get kids to play a bit more quietly when she is there (that's 2 days I think).

shouldn't be that hard I'd have thought. shows you're making an effort.

I'm a childminder. I regularly have 5 or 6 children in my garden playing. They don't screech or scream, they make an acceptable amount of noise. I have a massive garden and a big Edwardian semi. My neighbours are reasonable people and realise that I live in a large family house and that large family houses attract people who like children. They have never complained. Ever. Maybe the O P has louder children than me but I doubt it as registered childminders are generally very professional and like the children to behave well even while playing.

The neighbours abu you aren't. Keep earning a living and giving those children a great childhood enjoying the fresh air and leaning about nature.

Do you encourage Quiet Time?

I would ensure that you have permission to run a business from the property. I rented my house our whilst I temporarily lived elsewhere and in our property development no one was allowed to run businesses from home so I had to turn down a tenant wanting to childmind.

3 hours a day of 7 under 5s in the garden next door to me would seriously get on my tits I'm afraid. I work from home and sit outside when the weather is nice.

Because there's 2 of you, that's a lot more under 5s than the average childminder and if you live in an average house with a tiny typical garden, it's probably quite annoying. Particularly if you're trying to revise for A levels.

My garden faces several gardens where kids are playing at these reasonable times. It's not that they're playing - it's that their playing equals making a lot of noise. Just because kids are outside doesn't mean they should be allowed to scream or shout. Riding bikes or skateboards can make a lot of noise. I'd say it is equally as good to help teach the kids that they have to mindful of neighbours in an urban environment. Did you not have neighbours ever tell you and your mates to quiet down? Also, I'd play nice with the neighbours and at least tell the kids to really keep the noise down on that last outing. You never know what others are dealing with. They could be cranky. They could have a kid that is struggling in school. Someone could be sick or suffer migranes. Frankly with construction and noise from neighbours I've lost work this year because I can't write fast enough and earplugs and Bose noise cancelling headphones are uncomfortable to have to wear all the time.

But the OP's neighbours have complained Dangerous, so obviously the children in her care are noisier than yours.

Or the neighbour is a moaning nimby. There was a thread just this week about a neighbour who wanted silence at all times when she was in the garden.

It does sound like it would be really noisy. But I'm surprised they're all at home in the day, don't they go to work?

My idea of hell would be child day care one side and rescue kennels the other.

The fact the neighbours have complained doesn't necessarily mean the ops children are excessively noisy. See the other (very similar) thread on here where a neighbour has complained about things like people talking in the garden and closing a gate insufficiently quietly.

Im surrounded by retired folk and all but one kick up a fuss about my one DC with SEND.

I'm sorry but these houses are family homes so families will move in. They all have big gardens and children will use these gardens. They also have from 8:30 - 4pm to enjoy their gardens noise free because they do not work so demanding I keep my DCs noise down from 4pm-6pm is just cunty behaviour.

Witsend, what happened in your parents situation?

Here's the other thread.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/a2656545-AIBU-to-be-incredibly-bothered-by-neighbours-complaint

X post primal. Very similar thread that one in terms of number of children yet nearly everyone on there has said that the children have the right to make reasonable noise in the garden outside of antisocial hours. I think the op may have made the mistake of suggesting in her post that she didn't think she was bu.

I love the sound of children playing, and this is part of everyday life, as a poster above says. I would much rather my peace be disturbed than the DC were stuck indoors.

If people want silence and solitude they should live somewhere rural!

Loud music or constant DIY, that would be noise pollution. But children playing? Not in my book.

My friend has this too for a bit, she would put on load music to drown it out with the window open.

Music had lots of cursing and rap so lot of the N word. Parents complained to the person running the nursery about the kids picking up bad language and most left.

She also rang the council about running a business in a residential area and then the neighbours change of use PP failed so got shut down completely.

I would love to hear kids playing near me. I wouldn't even care if it's all day. They sound joyful and carefree. What a way to be!

As long as it's not swearing and being anti social, listening to children play is part and parcel of living in a neighbourhood.

Could you compromise by say reducing the afternoon play by 30 minutes, and not letting them out until 9?

KP "They sound joyful and carefree." So am I
But if me and my mates, seven of them, were in a small garden squeeing a lot, I suspect we'd annoy you!

listening to children play is part and parcel of living in a neighbourhood

You're right, it most certainly is. Unfortunately a childminder's children don't follow the normal pattern of neighbourhood children who sequentially age and go to school and, as the years go on, make less noise in their gardens. This is a case where the neighbours of the OP can look forward to years and years of multiple small children being replaced by new ones every couple of years. It's a bit Groundhog day!