The noise of summer

[Dontbringthenoise]

With apologies to Don Healy for the title.

The clocks have changed, it's stopped raining and now it seems my neighbours' children on both sides seem to spend all afternoon and now into the evening bouncing on the trampolines they have taking over their garden or kicking footballs or throwing netballs or maybe a basketball all over the place. One side the parents were mowing the lawn at about 10 am and then the other side at 11am. Then the kids must have come out after their lunch and it's been non stop child noise. This is how every weekend is be isn't it now, until autumn. I don't understand why neighbours A and B can't at least agree to coordinate the time they mow their lawns so I get some break from it all. The noise just goes on and on and probably will until about 8pm this week getting longer and longer as the days get longer. This is just the start and I'm already fed up. May they will no doubt be out there even later if they have bbqs like they did last year. They seem to have coal ones so not only do I smell the meat but also the horrible stink of the coal and smoke too

Would I be unreasonable to ask them to bring their children in about 6pm so I can at least have some peace in the evening and to mow their lawns during the week so I can enjoy my weekends without the horrible noise of a lawn mower? I won't say anything about their BBQs until it actually happens as I don't want to give them ideas.

Hilarious thread. I love these - someone who hates neighbours doing normal things choses to live somewhere with neighbours and then hates them doing things. Classic!

@Dontbringthenoise - And when you bought your house did it ever occur to you that some people will have bought a house with a large garden because it gives their children somewhere to play ?

I think like a previous PP if the trampoline is very close to your patio then you could politely ask your neighbours if they could put it further down the garden , but then you would have to be a nice neighbour to ask that.

You don't have children.

Neither do I but I still think the OP is being absurd.

I do feel for you OP, I'm sensitive to noise as well. We don't have kids and I wouldn't want to live somewhere with screaming kids next door when the weather is nice. I get that it's probably not an easy thing to do but I would have chosen a place to live where there wouldn't be many kids or young families. We're in a cul de sac of 2 bed houses, so there are very few kids. It's lovely & quiet most of the time! There is a family at the back of us with 3 kids but we don't hear them very often, and their parents are quite considerate and tell them to keep it down when they start screaming in the garden. Other people's noise is annoying; I'd make that a factor when looking for somewhere to live.

And isn't it a wonderful noise? Families enjoying the good weather (which has yet to come to my area), kids outside being active - what life is about!

Surely you’re joking. Late morning mowing and playing outside on a nice Sunday are totally normal. You need to move somewhere with no neighbours. I don’t have kids but I like hearing other kids outside; better then being inside on their iPads

I would literally up my bbq use and encourage all the kids friends round to use our garden if you said anything to me about reducing my family’s use of our outside space. You are in the wrong and need to adjust your feelings on summer noise.

I understand you. I wish there were more places for quiet people. Not even your home/garden is safe unless you are very very rich. If I had the money I would make a great deal of quiet places (for adults and children with noise sensitivities); quiet gardens, actually quiet libraries, reading rooms, cafes, housing. That is the dream, beauty and peace.

When my dc were small i did ask them to keep it down as I taught them
from a young age to be considerate of others. Same in restaurants etc as i cant abide kids being left to run round when staff are trying to deliver hot food amd peolle are trying to relax . I told them that v loud noise was for certain places like playground s. .. ball parks .

Your neignours may not be aware of tour feelings.
if it was me as your neigbour i would want to know that it was disturbing but I suspect that some people may find it difficult to hear and may get defensive.

this is normal nosies for some - but i am nosie aware and sensitive.

if you get on well with them maybe ask them to
move the trampoline - with caution or humour?
if say it like ‘ oh i know i am
a pain but id bloody love a quiet g and t in my garden’ - most people wd relateto that?!
otherwise - ger some really good headphones- ii am noise sensitive and i wear these in my garden when neighbours are out - i listen to bird song / river sounds and pretend am alone ! I wd move to isolation - but cant afford it .

OutsideLookingOut - amazing - wd love it !

@Dontbringthenoise I'd literally laugh at you if I was your neighbour and you said this to me. You can't go around giving people a timetable of how to live their lives

I have a lovely well stocked garden with mature trees, I'd have been hives if I knew what to do with them and I'd love to see more birds but they seem to be irritated by screaming children too as we mostly just seem to have various sorts of tits and wood pigeons plus starlings. You are clearly being absurd suggesting we put in a maze.

Next door neighbours both have far more grass which is used as a football pitch half the time. Is suspect having to mow around the goals and move things around is adding to their mowing time.
If they destroy their lawns with the kids running around on it I frankly don't care so long as they don't replace it with artificial grass as it's vile.
I am surprised that children at that age are still playing out at 8pm I would have thought that they would be getting ready for bed and having a shower or supper before that. They are all Primary aged.
Has none of you experienced the constant thud thud of children kicking balls against a fence or the screaming of children all afternoon. It really is unbearable, perhaps these are same sort of children who are making lots of noise in cafes and their parents have basically said they don't care.

When my dc were small i did ask them to keep it down as I taught them
from a young age to be considerate of others. Same in restaurants etc as i cant abide kids being left to run round when staff are trying to deliver hot food amd peolle are trying to relax . I told them that v loud noise was for certain places like playground s. .. ball parks

......... and gardens !

100% with you on there being different ways of behaving in restaurants from when outside, playing. Their gardens come under the 'ourdoor voice' category.

If you made a comment about my BBQ I’d make sure I cooked with it every night for a month. 😅
You sound absolutely unbearable - your poor neighbours!

I think you are unreasonable to expect people to plan their use of their outdoor space around you and your outdoor space - including your preferred timetable.

They know nothing about you. And you know nothing about them. And to be blunt, they must probably care about you as little as you care about them - which is perfectly reasonable on both sides.

I'm afraid you rather have to resign yourself to the reality that people will mow their lawn when it suits them, their kids will play outdoors when it suits them and their kids, and they will bbq when they wish to.

God is this a wind up! If you knocked on my door asking me to keep my kids indoors after 6pm I’d laugh in your face … then get my bbq out 🤣

Unfortunately OP whilst some people try to compromise, some take the view that they can do what they like on their property.

I'm aware that noisy kids can be annoying to others - we wouldn't let it continue into the evening or early morning though.

We wouldn't do DIY late/very early or play loud music late/early and when we've had friends round we've tried to keep the noise down outside in the evening.

If we're having a BBQ we'll check if neighbours have washing hanging outside and let them know beforehand.

Our immediate neighbours do the same for us. Because they are also willing to compromise, as are we.

More distant neighbours however blast music out so it can be heard two streets away and leave dogs barking outside at all hours.
Because they feel they can do whatever they like on their property.

Whereas I agree with most of your post @dameofdilemma the issue here is that nothing that the OP has described is unreasonable.

Of course it is inconsiderate to be noisy at the crack of dawn, , but both neighbours are actually mowing their lawns mid - late morning.
The dc were playing in their own garden, on probably the first dry and slightly warmer day of the year, in the school holidays, at 7.30 in the evening (which would 'feel' to their body clocks, like 6.30, with the clocks only changing that day).

Nothing the OP has posted about is unreasonable of her neighbours.
It must be hell to live next to awful neighbours, but the OP isn't living next to awful neighbours, she is living next to perfectly normal families.