Yesterday was a lovely weather here, we have a small back garden and we're semi detached with neighbours, a couple in their 60s. I have two ds age 5 and 9.
After lunch we did a couple of hours of weeding and tidying up in the garden which the dc helped with. Then my eldest went inside to play computer games for a hour or so whilst my youngest played with toys in the garden, dp and I had a drink in the sun . Then my eldest came back outside around 4pm and kicked a ball with his brother for 20-30 minutes scoring shots into a goal. Then we stopped and had some bbq food on our decking, after that the boys went back to the football. The neighbour shouted loudly to the children 'would you give it a rest with the ball!?' I told the boys they could continue to play but please keep the ball low so didn't hit the hedge. Then 10mins later she came to me and said over the fence with a sharp tone 'everyone deserves a rest you know, can they just stop with the footballs.' I replied they were just playing, but I took the boys indoors indoors about 30mins later around 6pm. Was I being unreasonable not to make them stop playing with the footballs? They were not squealing or shouting, just kicking a ball back and forward to each other and keeping score.
We don't use the garden everyday, they don't play out often and I make an effort to take them to local woods for walk to burn off energy daily, but yesterday we just felt like having a bbq and afternoon in the garden. Our Neighbours spend a lot of time in their garden often sitting out all day with a radio playing, their dog barks at us through the fence, I've never complained or mentioned this to them, so I feel it should be a bit of give and take and children are entitled to play in their garden too?