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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to dread children playing football loudly outside into the evening?

40 replies

LMSLMS · 05/04/2026 19:30

I know I'll get flamed for being miserable but it can't just be me... Already dreading the lighter evenings as some parents near me think it's totally fine for their kids to be booting footballs up and down the street soon as they're in from school until 9:30pm or when it's dark. It's literally right outside my front door and window (not their own houses) and just the worst when you want to relax and enjoy your evening, the noise is so loud 🙃 would anyone else feel the same as me? Before anyone says anything I've got a 5 and 1 year old, I just think I wouldn't let them do this once past a certain time in the evening on a main road 🫠 I can't talk to them either as they're the type of people who would just argue back that it's kids being kids and whilst I agree it's good they're not stuck on screens, it shouldn't be disturbing others so much 🥺

OP posts:
UpToMyElbowsInDiapers · 05/04/2026 19:33

Kids playing outside is one of the most joyful sounds I can think of!

PoppinjayPolly · 05/04/2026 19:35

UpToMyElbowsInDiapers · 05/04/2026 19:33

Kids playing outside is one of the most joyful sounds I can think of!

reddit GIF

Children?! Playing outside?!! Oh my! Where’s the trigger warning! send in the child catcher… that’ll learn ‘em!

youalright · 05/04/2026 19:37

Just put the telly up there kids they play thats a good thing, as long as they are not kicking the ball at your door or window i don't see the problem

Villanousvillans · 05/04/2026 19:38

I told some children to play football outside their own house. They moved.

WaneyEdge · 05/04/2026 19:41

Villanousvillans · 05/04/2026 19:38

I told some children to play football outside their own house. They moved.

I do this. The parents are very quick to say “Kids being kids/better than stuck on a screen” but I think it’s really annoying (and rude) that they never play by their houses, or even in their own streets sometimes.

ShouldIJustKeepQuiet · 05/04/2026 19:46

I can't talk to them either as they're the type of people who would just argue back that it's kids being kids

that’s because it is kids being kids. Have you forgotten what it was like to be a child and play with your friends?

ClaredeBear · 05/04/2026 19:50

I would love to see more children playing outside. Are they actually playing on a main road?

NerrSnerr · 05/04/2026 19:52

Where exactly are they playing? I live on a main road and kids certainly couldn’t play football out the front as they’d be constantly dodging cars getting the ball back. Are they on the pavement/ road or is there some grass they’re playing on? (Just trying to picture it).

I do think it is nice for kids to be out for hours. Where I live kids can’t win- we have a MUGA in our village and people still moan when kids play football there as they get loud/ listen to music, even though it’s what it’s designed for

fartoomuchtoblerone · 05/04/2026 19:54

Have you considered moving somewhere more rural so you don’t have to deal with the sound of other people?

tulippa · 05/04/2026 19:54

I guess YABU really but I sympathise as well. Next door's grandchildren are round near enough every evening when it starts to get lighter and they can get very annoying. I had to shut the kitchen window earlier as they were singing Disney show tunes loudly and tunelessly in the way only 8 year old girls can. I feel bad as they're just doing what kids do but they are extremely irritating.

ThroughTheRedDoor · 05/04/2026 19:56

12 months ago, I'd have said that it's a lovey thing and the best kind of neighbour noise you could hope for.

A new family has moved in a couple of doors down. The thud of the ball is just awful. From 7am till 9pm (Yep, even in the dark rhe lad is out there) some weekend days. And most days afterschool until 9. Its surprisingly hard to block it out.

CheeseLand2 · 05/04/2026 20:05

Yeah this would do my head in. I doubt it’s a quiet affair and why shouldn’t you be able to enjoy a bit of solitude? Their needs shouldn’t trump yours. Surely there a park they could go to or you could just ask them to play outside their own homes?

Why aren’t they doing this? Probably because their own parents have told them to bugger off and play somewhere else so they’re not disturbed!

BCBird · 05/04/2026 20:07

It not playing outside that would bother me,it's the excessive noise.

LappingLouisa · 05/04/2026 20:12

CheeseLand2 · 05/04/2026 20:05

Yeah this would do my head in. I doubt it’s a quiet affair and why shouldn’t you be able to enjoy a bit of solitude? Their needs shouldn’t trump yours. Surely there a park they could go to or you could just ask them to play outside their own homes?

Why aren’t they doing this? Probably because their own parents have told them to bugger off and play somewhere else so they’re not disturbed!

Edited

I live near a park and summer is just relentless - it’s not the nice kids that I have a problem with, it’s the ones that scream, swear at one another drop their rubbish everywhere and turn up day after day…

henlake7 · 05/04/2026 20:13

As long as they aren't kicking balls into your house or garden I don't see the issue.
I live in a very hilly area so the kids tend to congregate and play wherever they find a flat bit of road, people just ignore them.

LauraJaneGrace · 05/04/2026 20:35

Yes I would feel the same.
Other people's kids outside your house are annoying.
Other people's kids are just annoying in general and there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling like that. When people say they love "the joyful noise" of children playing I wonder what type of Enid Blyton neighbourhood they live in.
It more often than not is just screeching, squawking and swearing these days.

AnSpideog · 05/04/2026 20:38

This never annoyed me in the least. Even before kids. Now I feel extra passionate about kids playing outside. I think it makes an area feel safe and family friendly. The noise isn’t annoying to me.

LoveheartBear · 05/04/2026 20:47

My neighbour’s children play in their garden, which I don’t have a problem with (in fact, I love hearing children out playing).

My only issue is they keep kicking the ball against the fence, and the noise really annoys me 😖. I’m perimenopausal, so that probably doesn’t help!

Original poster
LMSLMS · 05/04/2026 21:03

LauraJaneGrace · 05/04/2026 20:35

Yes I would feel the same.
Other people's kids outside your house are annoying.
Other people's kids are just annoying in general and there is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling like that. When people say they love "the joyful noise" of children playing I wonder what type of Enid Blyton neighbourhood they live in.
It more often than not is just screeching, squawking and swearing these days.

This it it, people go 'kids playing is a lovely sound' this isn't playing, it's literally a ball being booted around so loudly, big thuds every few seconds, it's almost impossible to switch off to 🙃

OP posts:
Original poster
LMSLMS · 05/04/2026 21:04

ThroughTheRedDoor · 05/04/2026 19:56

12 months ago, I'd have said that it's a lovey thing and the best kind of neighbour noise you could hope for.

A new family has moved in a couple of doors down. The thud of the ball is just awful. From 7am till 9pm (Yep, even in the dark rhe lad is out there) some weekend days. And most days afterschool until 9. Its surprisingly hard to block it out.

So awful isn't it. Every few seconds just thud thud thud. It's so hard to switch off to and every so often it'll end up bashing our door 🫠 I agree it's lovely kids want to play outside but it's just so frustrating it's never outside theirs 🙃

OP posts:
Original poster
LMSLMS · 05/04/2026 21:05

NerrSnerr · 05/04/2026 19:52

Where exactly are they playing? I live on a main road and kids certainly couldn’t play football out the front as they’d be constantly dodging cars getting the ball back. Are they on the pavement/ road or is there some grass they’re playing on? (Just trying to picture it).

I do think it is nice for kids to be out for hours. Where I live kids can’t win- we have a MUGA in our village and people still moan when kids play football there as they get loud/ listen to music, even though it’s what it’s designed for

It's the main through road for the street, they literally have to move their goal post out the way to let cars by. There's a green area in the street but they don't use it. It's a busy road so they're constantly having to move out the way to let cars by anyway 🙃

OP posts:
TheHouse · 05/04/2026 21:06

I don’t mind unless one of the little cunts hits my car again for the tenth time. And then I do mind. Like there’s a big fuck off field opposite my house but you little pricks want to play right outside my house near the cars.

Very annoying.

ThatDaringDenimTurtle · 05/04/2026 21:07

Just spread a rumour that a man in a van keeps driving past

Original poster
LMSLMS · 05/04/2026 21:08

TheHouse · 05/04/2026 21:06

I don’t mind unless one of the little cunts hits my car again for the tenth time. And then I do mind. Like there’s a big fuck off field opposite my house but you little pricks want to play right outside my house near the cars.

Very annoying.

Yeah they do the same on our street, there's not really enough room for them to even play properly with all the cars on the road and they hit them 🫠

OP posts:
TheHouse · 05/04/2026 21:10

It is odd when there’s a huge green/field but yet they choose to play in the road, hitting cars and car windows etc.

I personally wouldn’t allow my kids to be that annoying, or stupid tbh. Mine played on the green or fields if they were playing football.