AIBU to struggle with neighbours' children screaming while working from home?

[fld]

One of the few things I am not looking forward to the next few days are screaming kids.

Two families that moved late last year and earlier this year have 5-6 kids between them and all they do is scream! They run outside and scream. As the properties are in an odd shaped quadrangle, their screams bounce off the walls. Making the screaming even more intense. The kids’ ages, c3-9 years old.

My job is hybrid, so didn’t get this issue last summer as properties the kids live in - one didn’t have kids and the other had kids and behaved.

I had to close a window to keep the screaming down. There is no way I would close a window when it’s 31c.

I do wish parents would tell their kids that screaming is not acceptable. My work is two thirds on calls ti various customers, other staff in other departments and my team’s colleagues. I can hear the screaming from wearing the call headset.

Any tips will be appreciated

Chill out. I just suggested her talking to her neighbours.

Screaming is annoying.

But kids tend to scream and more so in the Summer, which is something you have no control over.

You've made it so your office is in close proximity to kids playing/screaming in their garden, which you knew could happen.

Now that it has, I guess you'll have to get used to it or look for another job.

I can't see any other solution unfortunately.

Don’t mind children playing at all but when they do that very high pitched screaming it’s very annoying.

As someone who was brought indoors if screamed too much, I totally get it. Live next door to an absolute feral monster and there's 4 more kids 3 and 4 houses down. All we can hear, together with 2 families dogs barking too.

Children chatting away is cute, playing is fine and a happy noise, screaming endlessly and kicking a ball against fences for hours isn't cute. I wish parents showed some consideration like was done before.

All you can do is not open your window and use one of those silent fans. You can open other windows away from you for some breeze.

I work in schools too. Kids are loud! Get some noise cancelling headphones or go to the office. Or move somewhere far from neighbours.

C’mon there really isn’t much you can do and you know that. They’re kids. They scream and shout. It’s fucking annoying.
Why do parents nowadays feel there is nothing they can do to control their kids' disturbing behaviours?

It's beyond me. Yes, kids scream and shout, and oh surprise suprise kids can learn to keep it down when they are taught to do so.

'kids are kids' is nothing but lazy parenting.

I feel your pain. Neighbours kids here scream and screech constantly. It’s always the same pattern. Playing in the garden for 5 mins then someone starts crying and wailing, someone else is crying for mum who seems to just ignore. They are so annoying. My children were not perfect but I would never allow them to screech. Children can be loud but they don’t have to screech all the time.

Exactly this. I do this anyway and use NC headphones / headset.

not perfect but much better

OP you’re getting a hard time. I hate how most mumsnetter responses to stuff like this is “tough” “go live in the middle of nowhere then” “go to work” honestly sod off, parents need to parent better and start raising their kids properly!! I’d go round and have a word. The world has changed and many people work from home now, that’s the way of the world and people need to adjust and be considerate of this imo!!

I think it’s self centred to expect your neighbours to listen to your kids scream all day. Whenever DD and her friends were making a racket in the garden I’d tell them they needed to tone down the noise or come in. Surely it’s basic common decency to not inflict your noise on other people, and good parenting to teach your children that they need to be considerate of others.

Couldn’t agree more lol

What’s screaming to you is probably just loud normal kid noise to the. And u could always work from the office. Summer holidays are approaching so suck it up and get a better headset as kids in gardens is normal and beyond your control.

I expect that parent has been working all day, picked up the kids from school, chucked them in the garden to play in a paddling pool while she gets dinner on. Why the fucking hell should she go out because a woman over the street who she’s never met has got a teams call with her regional manager at 4.10pm???
So lazy! She should go out and deal with it because teaching your children to be self aware of their actions and impact on others, ie. learning to be considerate and not a selfish twat is more important than cooking dinner for two hours!

This thread really show the level of selfishness, self-centredness and entitlement of parents.

Then they wonder why teachers are leaving the profession and want nothing to do anymore with them and their kids.

Buy yourself a portable A/C unit for any really hot days, and close all the windows. The white noise from the A/C will cover any kid noise that makes it past the double glazing.

Yes
To complain a child is outside screaming....Did you sit inside quiet as a child?
If you go talk to that nearby neighbour I am sure they can set you straight whos childs whos.
I wouldnt bother its what some children do.

Go into the office if you have the choice. Kids should be allowed to play out

I live behind a primary school and you can hear them playing out and having fun at break times. No screaming though. Because they're told not to.

@Moveoverdarlin My employer has asked us not to work from a place such as Costa. Part of our contract. Plus I require 3 monitors for all the stuff I use. It's near impossible to do the work on just the one screen - the laptop one.

It's not my fault that the families moved in the past 6-8 months don't discipline their kids.

Before this job, I was unemployed as left my previous job due to mental health issues and extreme burnout. Took 6-8 weeks of doing very little, getting myself back to feeling normal, then got this job 8 months later. I had to extend my work locations as there was nothing available in the area I was originally looking at.

For all of you who think it's perfectly natural for kids to scream and shriek for hours disturbing neighbours to tears, would you be fine if your neighbours had two or three dogs constantly barking, non stop every evening for two hours and all day for 6 weeks.

After all, it's perfectly natural for dogs to bark and it's good for them to be outside.

There is a difference between playing outside and screaming all the time.

If the noise is a genuine problem for your work rather than just an annoying inconvenience, then you need to take it to your employer. They might need to consider providing more desks, or maybe more desks will naturally become available over the summer as people are off with their own children.

i get that screaming is annoying, but it’s what children do in their gardens, especially when it’s hot and they have paddling pools and water play out. It is more important for children to be able to play in their gardens than it is for adults to wfh or employers to save money by failing to provide workspaces. You could look into soundproofing the room you work in.

Coworking space as said upthread

I don't know if this is feasible for you or not, but I move myself to the spare bedroom at the front room of my house once the school hols start! Most kids play out in back gardens now, so that dampened the noise for me a good bit. White noise/noise cancellers does the rest.

OP you have to try and find solutions for your situation. There's no point complaining as kids will be kids especially during the Summer when they are outside.

Totally agree. What I can’t understand though is how come the screamers never get hoarse and lose their voice. It just shows the incredible entitlement of some parents these days who won’t parent their children, and there seem to be quite a lot of them on mumsnet from the responses on this kind of thread.