Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Only the apps you allow.

Meet the Other Phone.
Only the apps you allow.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Garden trampolines. I expect most will think IABU.

220 replies

jamdonut · 13/05/2017 11:29

Totally fed up. Next door have a trampoline which ( it seems) is in constant use ( or rather, whenever I am at home it is).

I have a nice , garden . Ex Local authority, so on an estate. I'd like to sit and relax in it, but all you can hear is the sound of squeaky springs, usually accompanied by kids screaming, or, teenagers who bounce so high you can see them over our fence. (Most of these kids do not live at the house, it seems the whole neighbourhood visits to use their garden [ hmm] )
I'm all for kids having fun, but in small gardens, is it fair to subject your neighbours to the accompanied noise/ inconvenience caused?

If you've got the sort of garden that is big enough to not overlook anyone else, all well and good, but I feel like I'm going to have nervous breakdown if I have to put up with this noise or the sight of shirtless teens above my fence any longer. It's like torture.

My neighbours are not the kind of people you can just " have a word with", either.( We lived here 8 years with no problems, before they were moved in 5 years ago)

I just wondered what the consensus of opinion is - am I actually unreasonable or have I turned into a miserable ' old' person? ( My own kids are 17, 20 and 24...but I would never have allowed them to annoy the neighbours like this).

OP posts:
JennyOnAPlate · 13/05/2017 16:39

I dont think yabu about screaming and shrieking actually; that just isn't necessary. Late in the evening would annoy me too as my young dc would be trying to get to sleep by 8.

BollardDodger · 13/05/2017 16:39

If you live in an ex local authority property, expect to live next door to riff-raff.

AnnieAnoniMouse · 13/05/2017 16:57

You could get a high power super soaker and when they're being nosy, squirt them 😂

I love hearing kids playing & having fun, a bit of shouting is fine, but incessant screaming is not.

I'd rather a trampoline than my neighbours kids new toy, a table tennis table. They've put it as far away from their house as possible (I really can't blame them for that) which means it's right by my back door & sitting room. Bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip bip. From the wee hours until late at night. I'm hoping I eventually manage to tune it out.

ahipponamedbooboobutt · 13/05/2017 18:03

Yanbu. I hate trampolines with a passion and am a grumpy mum that refused to buy one for my kids. Unfortunately dh isn't grumpy and was offered one for free and took it. I hate it. I can't wait to get rid of it.
I'm a grumpy old person and have 4 dc aged from 13 to 1

Shoxfordian · 13/05/2017 18:21

I don't think you're unreasonable and it's a shame you can't discuss it with your neighbours.

BollardDodger · 13/05/2017 19:07

Trampolines can cause some very nasty accidents, so if you're lucky one of the kids might break their leg and they might stop using it

OrangeFluff · 13/05/2017 19:08

YANBU OP! My neighbour at the end of my garden has older children/teenagers, and they are on the trampoline a lot, quite late in the evenings too. Their friends come round regularly.

I notice that the trampoline has been put as far away from their own house as possible, right up against the hedge between our gardens. Their garden is twice as long as ours.

I don't object to the sound of children playing. I do object to the obscene language, cheering and shrieking that comes from the teenage boys. Don't think the parents realise/care.

Sugarformyhoney · 13/05/2017 19:28

My NDN huffs and puffs when my children are on the trampoline and being, well, children in the garden. She is also a HA tenant and im of the option that if she is still occupying a family sized home then she needs to get over normal family noise.
If people don't wsnt to hear kids playing they need to find non family orientated areas in which to live

Nanny0gg · 13/05/2017 20:50

The OP isn't objecting to the sound of children playing.

Read her posts.

CrochetBelle · 13/05/2017 20:56

If you live in an ex local authority property, expect to live next door to riff-raff.

Hmm
ihatetosay · 13/05/2017 20:59

yanbu they are a total pain in the arse

LakieLady · 13/05/2017 21:20

YANBU. I would be driven demented by it, and be forced to play Mozart operas very loud to drown out the noise. Or take up knife throwing.

We saw a house we really liked a couple of years ago, and made an appointment to view it. When we got there, we cancelled the appointment straight away: the neighbours had a basketball net above the garage and a trampoline in the back garden.

If your house is ex LA, could the neighbours still be tenants? Council housing officers are often excellent at dealing with noise nuisance.

WhatALoadOfOldBollocks · 13/05/2017 21:53

If you want complete silence you should move into the middle of nowhere
Don't be silly. There's a middle ground between complete silence and kids screaming for hours on end all through the summer?

I love the sound of kids having fun and laughter
If you mean constant high-pitched screaming, I don't. It goes right through me, and it really irritates me that kids are allowed to "express themselves" so noisily for so long and the parents don't give a shit.

As people have said, it's give and take, which to me means it's a compromise between letting the kids get rid of their energy in the garden and make some noise, but also considering how the noise is affecting the neighbours. So perhaps if they can't play a bit quieter they can't be out in the garden so long. A bit like I don't mow my lawn at weekends or evenings because that's when many people want to relax at home, and I'm around when most people are out so can do it then. Also why I never let my dog bark in the garden, or why I wouldn't have a bonfire when the neighbours have their washing out. Because I'm not an inconsiderate twat.

rubiq · 13/05/2017 22:13

until 18 months ago i owned a home on a council estate and had one of these trampolines parked in the neighbours garden right under my bedroom window, i work shifts and after nights id struggle to sleep hearing the kids of all different streets coming to play on it literally all day, screams, kids crying when they hurt themselves, squeeky springs, i wanted to go around and night and cut the bottom out of it but i didnt....

unfortunatly when you live somewhere like on a estate thats the price you pay having neighbours with kids that invite other kids that invite kids to play in their gardens..

nothing you can do really, you will only get a tirade of abuse most likely.

they do grow out of em eventually...

Sugarformyhoney · 13/05/2017 23:07

Regardless of what you think constitutes normal children playing and what is not, you can't police or dictate that. It's annoying but part of living in s residential area. The council would see it as normal living noise for eg
Also- not sure why there are so many references to LA housing. Children in the private sector also play on trampolines Hmm

StarryCorpulentCunt · 14/05/2017 00:13

Stick up some trellis and climbing plants that need misting. Hourly. With a hosepipe. On Jet setting. With a package of powdered food dye in the fitting.

robusttoday · 14/05/2017 17:47

yanbu (not read full thread) I treasure my privacy in my garden. A head popping up every few seconds would completely change things. I would loose privacy. If I had a trampoline, I would tell all bouncers to consider neighbours. and if that meant using it a lot less when neighbours were obviously enjoying their garden, then so be it. but this is a tricky one, because I'm "old-school" and things have changed. It's more of a "take-what-you-can-and-sod-any-notion-of-sensitivity-towards-others" mentality now. and we are a particularly private culture in this country, I think. I believe other cultures don't feel so in need of privacy....? Good luck. Try not to let this niggle ruin things though . (just a thought.... could you get one too and find some people to dish this behaviour back to those bouncy people?)

gemma19846 · 14/05/2017 17:51

Sorry but theyre children playing in their own garden 😕 not much you can do. At least theyre not walking round the estate causing trouble

gemma19846 · 14/05/2017 17:52

Surely the children go to school nearly 7 hours a day 5 days a week

NotYoda · 14/05/2017 17:55

gemma

Yes, and the OP works similar hours, so she's trying to relax when they are out there screaming and shrieking. They are not little children. They rae teens

pollymere · 14/05/2017 18:01

When we were kids, we'd all be outside making a heck of a noise. I used to rollerskate until dark. I think you're hearing it because these days it's unusual for kids to be playing outside. Probably better than swearing and loud music with the smell of cannabis wafting over!

flowergrrl77 · 14/05/2017 18:07

this too shall pass... (and yes, imo, YABU)

So, often ppl complain that kids don't play out , but when they play out OMFG they're noisy!!

Remember, the kids will grow up and grow out of trampolining lots. So whilst you might be annoyed now, you might be free of it in a year or 3.

What else should the kids be doing? being silent, seen but not heard?

SadieTheNurse · 14/05/2017 18:09

At least theyre outside!

Seriously if you buy a house on an estate you just have to take noise into consideration

user93483098350593850000 · 14/05/2017 18:10

They'll get bored of it eventually. It'll get left to rust in the rain and be given away on Gumtree

For some reason, this made me laugh Grin.

GloriaV · 14/05/2017 18:12

What age are the DCs they might grow out of it soon Grin
It could be worse it could be a swimming pool. Imagine the squeals and screams from that!

Not much consolation there.
Can't believe so many think it's fine for screaming kids to carry on all day and evening. They should be supervised and not allowed to scream - that's not much to ask imv.