To really hate the loud, selfish celebrations & fireworks people have outside on NYE?

[LdnMum94]

I'm laid in bed exhausted and pissed off.

My autistic three year old has been woken three times in the run up to midnight, by endless fireworks exploding outside our house, so loud and close that they terrified him out of a deep sleep. By the third time he was woken he was so distressed he was smashing his head on the floor

In between the hundreds of bangs coming from all angles there are drunk people screaming "happy new year!" and "woohoooooo!" that can be heard in here as clear as day, as though they think it's welcome, or simply don't care.

Not everybody is seeing in the new year by getting drunk, and not all of those who are having a drink feel the need to take their fanfare into the street, giving not one shit about elderly/vulnerable neighbours or people who have to be up for work.

Do you think I'm being unreasonable?

Safe to say they are not fucking doing that any more.

supposed to be that!

@MichelleScarn

This has been a fucker of a year, I generally hate fireworks but am not going to begrudge people the approx half hour to get rid of the shittiest year in my memory

Half an hour? If only. We had 6 hours of them here tonight. And there have been fireworks most evenings since mid October.

@grisen

I’ve just moved away from the UK and in all my years in the UK I’ve never heard anything in comparison to bombing or guns being shot. And for the past 10-ish years only heard a handful of fireworks a year outside of organised displays at summer.
Where did you live??

@LdnMum94

Worra you are incredibly ignorant and misinformed it's almost laughable.

You were calling out cyclingmad for partying and Mumsnetting though weren't you?

Do you not think she can multi-task if you can?

Hahaha its laughable your all on mumsnet yourself. And whats the difference if when I'm in ackub messaging mates or doing things on my phone

Its not like I'm breaking any covid rules

Ah well enjoy your miserable new yrs, my usa friends are now online so im off to continue having fun

the nhs clapping did my head in but hey, free country

I'm with you on the fireworks, I hate them! I have a really anxious dog who's terrified and a toddler who's been woken up 4 times 😭 I wouldn't mind a few at midnight but they've been going off constantly since it first started getting dark here, so five o'clock ISH? I hate the thought over overexcited drunk people in charge of fireworks either.

But the shouting/drunk behaviour/music i'd say we have to suck up as it's only NYE once a year, and people are excited to see out this shit show of a year I guess. Hope your son is ok though, that must be awful for you both

Nobody is allowed to enjoy themselves ever 🙄

Yanbu your poor son xx

@RebeccaCloud9

I really feel for you with an autistic son in this situation.

However, I've just been stood at my open window, thoroughly loving the fireworks and calls of happy new year. It felt really lovely to hear people calling to each other when we are all apart.

Yes we enjoyed hearing it too, was nice to see a bit of community spirit again, though do feel for OP and her son.

We also laughed when someone shouted in the distance FUCK YOU CORONAVIRUS. Hear hear 😊

Our neighbours did a midnight firework display on our road for all the residents. My toddler woke up but I forgive them. A fitting crazy tribute to a crazy year.

I’m totally with you on fireworks. I had an ex-army patient with PTSD who described the hell of fireworks for him. I remember him saying how he had found it easier to cope when they were confined to 5th November or the nearest Saturday and NYE at midnight. What had made his distress so much worse was the expansion of firework season from October to February with random displays taking him by surprise. The other comment he made was that fireworks have become so much louder and that’s certainly my experience. There was a firework display this evening at 8pm in my village. They were about a quarter of a mile away but so loud that the windows were shaking and it felt like bombs going off. They are still going off now at random.

It’s not just my patient who really suffered, it’s wildlife; the fireworks round here on VE Day in May will have damaged nesting birds and caused the abandonment of nests. Not to mention all the other terrified wildlife. It’s livestock too; my friend’s horse bolted when surprised by someone’s impromptu firework display and was killed. It’s pets; my Labrador is terrified and it’s horrible to see. It’s small children, terrified and overwhelmed. I know lots of elderly neighbours who find them overpowering. It’s the littering, cases and other non biodegradable junk landing in fields and unspent fireworks going off later and injuring people. It’s all the little idiots and their idiot parents buying them so they can point them at passing cars for fun. Yes, they are beautiful but the price we pay for them is too high (and I don’t mean the £). It would be great if they could be confined to organised displays with plenty of warning on key dates only and quieter too!

May be worth investing in ear defenders for your DS for future bonfire nights / New Years, if he will tolerate them?

We had noisy neighbours and I bought some for DS and put them on when he was asleep, then took them off again when the neighbours finally finished their rave.

[quote SleepingStandingUp]@grisen

I’ve just moved away from the UK and in all my years in the UK I’ve never heard anything in comparison to bombing or guns being shot. And for the past 10-ish years only heard a handful of fireworks a year outside of organised displays at summer.
Where did you live??[/quote]
You didn’t live in Kent or Sussex where they have lots of weird SAS wannabes who like playing with matches and dream of the days when it was acceptable to burn Catholics at the stake. Fucking nightmare.

Can you invest in a white noise machine for next time? My five year ole
D has slept soundly through the fireworks with her white noise machine on. I also find it useful for drowning out summer outdoor parties as well and the various dubious lockdown socialising that has happened in neighbouring gardens over recent months!

I really enjoyed my neighbour's fireworks, it's pretty unreasonable to expect people not to celebrate because of your individual circumstances, their circumstances may mean that it's equally important to them to enjoy themselves

I think YABU because New Year is just once a year.

@notangelinajolie

I think YABU because New Year is just once a year.

Along with Rod, Diwali, Bonfire Night and all the random weekends in-between because people literally have money to burn

YANBU if you're an area like I am. For me, it would depends on how long it went on. To be woken up repeatedly suggests it went on a while.

I live near an industrial estate where people frequently set off fireworks, and I definitely think since this October it's been going on longer and far louder. It used to be 10-20 minutes, a few pops, and gone (possibly because firing off where they are is illegal), and it didn't really bother us.

Now, we've had multiple nights of really loud fireworks, big and bright enough to light up our windows a good distance away, going on for hours and in the last 2-3 weeks, we've had multiple nights of drunk and high-sounding people shouting outside for a good while. It seems this year, my front wall has become a spot for socially distance chat which is fine if awkward when I want to leave my house, but the drunkenness has set off my CPTSD badly.

I wish it was the banging, traditional blowers, and brief merriment 'for just one night' as people describe. That we can plan for and we usually take part for ten or so minutes and enjoy listening to the rest, but it seems this year it seems some people want a big extended blow out. Hopefully next year, there will be less pent-up frustration that people want to blow off - and blow up - in this manner.

It’s 2.40am here and some people are still letting off fireworks.

A bunch of my neighbours gathered in the village green at midnight to let off fireworks.

I did what any normal British person would do - stared out the window whilst tutting.

I did think it was selfish they didn't invite me warn anyone though

I'm grateful to the people who spent time and money setting off fireworks in the park across the road tonight.

It made us feel normal. It was celebratory and fabulous.

YABU

I haven't been letting them off myself but I've really enjoyed the displays everyone else has been letting off!

Some twat is still setting off loud 'bomb' fireworks here.

It's past 3am for fuck's sake.

And yes, they are called 'bombs' and retail under names like 'Bazooka Bombs' and 'Atom Bombs'.

That's what people are pissed off about. Not Roman candles and sparkly shit.

I don’t think people celebrating on a date that historically has always been celebrated is ‘selfish’.
I think it’s normal. Expected. Part of our culture.

I also think on such a date, people should be allowed to celebrate how they deem fit.

Personally my celebration included good food; nice wine; the fireworks on the TV and a board game with the family, but I’m not bothered by my neighbours who are setting off fireworks, who’ve cranked up the music and whose excited kiddies have been screaming and laughing. They aren’t doing anything illegal after all.

I would be pissed off if they did this every weekend, but they don’t. It’s New Year.

I get that other people’s choices are affecting your little one and I appreciate that’s hard work, but in the nicest way possible, it’s also a bit of tough luck. I mean, there might be a day in the year where a neighbour celebrates a big birthday and has a party...I might have to get up for work. It’s tough and part of living in a residential area.

I think you have a few choices op, but nothing that’s going to suit you:

1. Get angry - there’s absolutely nothing you can do and it’s a waste of energy. Maybe you could go out shouting at the neighbours, but you’re still not going to get anywhere and you’ll make yourself look like a dick. Sit up posting on MN...probably will end up pissing you off more.
2. Accept it - you’ll see the evening out, wake up tired, but both you and your child will get over it.

For what it’s worth, I have been on the receiving end of an autistic child’s melt down and they are not fun. But there will continue to be plenty of things that trigger such meltdowns and that’s unfortunately just part of your life now. I’m sympathetic, but I don’t think it’s going to make much of a difference to other people in all honesty.

Happy New Year.