Neighbours kids playing outside early…

[FooFightersFan]

It’s the school holidays and I appreciate that by starting this thread I’m going to sound like a right grump, but here goes…

Our garden backs onto two houses, both of which are owned by couples with young kids. All four parents work from home full time.

The kids (youngest 3, all primary school aged) regularly play outside in the gardens. The houses are new build with literally no plants or shrubs. Just lawn surrounded by fence / brick walls. The noise just bounces around as there is nothing to ‘absorb’ it.

I accept that they are noisy when they play because they are young, energetic and kids!

Now that the school summer holidays are well under way, it’s become apparent that getting up and out into the garden at 8am is their routine. And they shout. A lot.
Then at 10am they go inside and there is silence for a while.

I can deal with it, I have 2 kids and I appreciate that’s what kids are like.

and here’s the “but”…

My son works full time and his room overlooks our back garden. He works 12 hour shifts a lot of days, in hospitality. Most shifts mean he is home around 11pm and in bed by midnight. He’s getting increasingly fed up with the neighbour kids’ morning routine.

During term time, the outside playing is just at the weekend. But now it’s a daily occurrence due to the holidays, I really feel for my son, because being woken up 90 mins before he needs to be up for his next shift is pretty miserable.

WIBU to message or pop round to my neighbours and see if they can encourage their kids to be quieter (a big ask) or to not let them out before 9:00.

I’ve become that grumpy neighbour 😩

Plenty of kids have been up since 6. Imagine spending the first 4 hours of your day cooped up inside. 2 hours is plenty. They have energy to burn and quite frankly, no one is pussy-footing around them when they are in bed trying to sleep and we are all out enjoying ourselves!

I don't and didn't let my kids out till 9/930 am.
Same with mowing I wouldn't dream of mowing before ten am on a Sunday especially.

We always played in the garden when we were kids, there is no way we'd have made so much noise to bother neighbours.

This screaming kids in the garden is the new screaming kids running round restaurants. Why tf don't parents do something?!

Your child needs more sleep, their children need outside playing that time of morning.
One child's needs doesn't trump the other

Because they’re dc.
My dm did full time nights. She got to bed at 9 am on a Sunday and from 10 am the church bells rang on and off until 12 midday.
She never complained to the church because it’s normal life.
Dc playing out in summer at 8 am is normal life.

Your ds is getting 8 hours sleep, that probably more than the parents are getting.

Janiie
This screaming kids in the garden is the new screaming kids running round restaurants. Why tf don't parents do something?!

Because it’s easier not to, presumably 🤷‍♀️

Ywbu to ask if he's not even tried earplugs and/or white noise on speaker yet.
Try that for a few days and review

Could you long term add some trees plants to block out noise?
Seeing as you mentioned there not being much vegitation, this does help block noise.
I am going to add some trees bushes between myself and neighbour who is sometimes loud in the garden at night.

I think that taking is the best way.
We have fantastic neighbors and they would never dream of allowing this.
When I mow the lawn I'm careful to start really early
It's give and take.
Just be polite
Ask in friendly way with no expectations - if they say No that's fine.
Just keep it simple.

8am ?! My kids have been up for 2 hours by then asking to play outside.

You are being unreasonable

Dc playing out in summer at 8 am is normal life

Screaming isn’t 🤯

Because to one person it’s ’screaming,’ to others it’s normal noise.

But you aren't the only person in the world, are you? 8am isn't early if you wake at 5am, is it?

They are playing outside, they are allowed to be noisy at normal times, and 8am is not early for most people.

Get some noise-shielding curtains and a white noise machine if you tend to wake easily. White noise machines are quite small and cheap these days.

Unless you heard it you don’t know it’s screaming.
Screaming is used like literally these days.

To be fair, your son's choice of 'career' (if you can call it that) should not dictate what other people legally do in their own garden.

Screaming kids is the worst noise. There is one near me and I do wonder would I notice if they were being kidnapped or murdered? They scream all the time in the garden so I doubt I'd bother checking and would just close my windows to dampen the noise.

Mine neighbours children were out at 6.45 am screaming on the trampoline. Unreasonable of me to think they shouldn’t be outside but also unreasonable of them to allow screaming and shouting that early.

Well done to everyone whose children have never screamed. Almost as good as the comment from another thread, ‘children on the continent don’t tantrum’.

Normally what's described as 'screaming' on MN is just children playing normally - they're loud and they get excited and they are having fun. Its the under 10s version of cackling loudly in the pub - maybe annoying but far from unreasonable.

Got agree with this.
What if the kids were trying to sleep and op went in her garden with her friend and started shouting / laughing loudly ?

HebburnPokemon · Today 12:20
To be fair, your son's choice of 'career' (if you can call it that) should not dictate what other people legally do in their own garden

What an offensive thing to say. You need to apologise to OP. Presumably you’re the sort of person who looks down on hospitality staff. Shame on you.

We chose to work these hours, our neighbours didn't, although I do understand that it's annoying. Due to my work hours, I sleep at weird times which others might consider anti-social, and I would agree! I have a neighbour who plays video games around the time I fall asleep at about 4pm to roughly when I wake up in the middle of the night. It's loud, lots of gunshot noises and him yelling. But I just let him get on with it because that's his free time and his house. Same with the children in the gardens backing onto mine, who are up screaming and playing at all hours of the morning and night. I either move into the living room, or wear a pair of loop ear plugs with the silencers in. They work very well, and while you might still give a bit of sound filtering in, it's definitely more tolerable.

Wax earplugs from boots are excellent

Kids playing out at 8am is perfectly fine
You son having 8 hours sleep each night I'd perfectly fine.
Don't antagonise the neighbours, they might be the type to make noise at inappropriate times (which they are not doing ATM,)
just to piss you off