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

Parents shouldn't let their kids scream incessantly whilst playing.

However, when it is hot outside you need your windows and curtains shut to keep your house cool.
You are also the person working in a residential area.

Exactly! And nice chatting, playing noises can be endearing, hearing the wonderfully daft things that children chat about.

Screaming is inconsiderate, shitty and does the child no good either.

I do sympathise. I can hear my neighbour's child screaming two doors away and that's with the doors closed.

Don't think there's anything much you can do beyond keep the windows and doors open and your headset on. Apart from move that is.

I dont have kids and agree parents cam be a self entitled bunch, and kids these days are really poorly parented especially in the UK.
However I also work for myself and go out to work at a coworking space and find WFHers who cant be bothered to get off their arses and physically leave their house at any point grating for some reason too 😂

It does seem to me that kids scream more now than before, especially girls. Fortunately most of the kids around here are now older and have stopped. And I’m retired, which means I get to go out into my garden when the weather is nice and mow and scarify the lawn, use a shredder when I’ve trimmed the trees and so on. I’m conscious that some of the neighbours wfh and try to be considerate, but these are houses where people live, not offices. If your employer doesn’t want to pay for premises, that’s fine but I’ll be damned if I’m going to be creeping around my garden when I need to get things done out there. Sorry OP, you’re on a hiding to nothing.

Everyone has the right to enjoy their home, noise will be made sometimes. Actual screaming and shrieking from kids is not a right it's a pita and the parents are pretty useless if they're not telling their kids to keep it down sometimes.
My last neighbour told me she was sick to death of her kids screaming indoors that's why she sent them out into the garden so they could scream out there.

So basically it's the OP's fault for working at home.
Taking work out of it, the OP is unable to enjoy the peace of her own home because of the inconsiderate parenting and screaming children.
You still think she should go out for hours?

yep - this.
We have 6 screaming neighbours. There's usual playing and then there's screaming. Now the eldest 2 kids have learnt to swear too, which is particularly delightful.

Yeah sorry youve not a leg to stand on here. Buy a fan, or a detached house. Whichevers cheapest

Screaming all the time should not be tolerated by anyone. Then my neighbour is sick of the screaming as works rotational shifts. 4 weeks of earlies, 4 weeks of 'normal' then 4 weeks of nights. Has 2 days off during the week then when changing hours, has 4 days off. He bought some ear plugs and they are doing great for him.

I wfh and don’t have an office - feel your pain! I was thinking of delivering a note to this particular row of houses so I’m not singling anyone out. I did this before with a builder who used to whistle loudly all day. I don’t think he realised I was home. This time I think I’ll just ask if they can keep the noise low in the mornings which is when I’ll do the bulk of my more sensitive work. They can yell all they like after lunch. It’s not wonderful but it’s a compromise. I don’t think mine realise they are doing it.

If you explain the situation to your work can they prioritise you in the office space?

But I think noise cancelling headphones that have the ability to also let you do your calls is the obvious answer.

If it's not kids it will be a barking dog, a car alarm, nearby building works, etc.

It's pretty simple, close the window. Close the curtains. upgrade the glazing if you really want.

it's not really that big a deal.

Simple.,Go back to the office. Since covid too many people have started to expect preferential treatment just because they can’t be bothered to go to work. It’s Summer and kids play outside, you need to adapt, not them.

I do sympathise OP. Of course children should be allowed to play out - I did as a child and my DCs did too. But if I heard them screaming then I'd be out there telling them to stop. It is a nuisance noise and totally pointless and not necessary. I hate this sort of thing where some people just have absolutely no awareness that their noise (not just kids but music, shouting etc) is impacting other people in a negative way. Children don't need to scream.

Its called work.
You know, when you get dressed and head out to interact with the wider world in exchange for money. I know these days you can do a lot of this sitting on your arse, but it shouldn't be too strenuous to spend 30 min exiting your home to go and sit on your arse elsewhere. Should it? 😅

Some children are badly behaved and some parents even more so, but children are people too. We do not need more reasons to turn them into device-addicted zombies who don’t know how to entertain themselves. Children absolutely should be outside playing. A small amount of screaming as part of play is quite normal behaviour. Yes, they should be encouraged to be mindful of others, but we were all children once and we were all overexcited and careless (or carefree) at some point. Do we really want a world where we never hear small humans playing and learning about the world?

Someone else who has not read the OPs updates.

I'll just scream it for those that don't mind listening to screaming as it's just kids playing.

SHE HAS TO WORK FROM HOME AS SHE NEEDS THREE SCREENS AND THERE IS NO OFFICE FOR HER TO WORK AT AND SHE'S NOT ALLOWED TO WORK AT COSTA.

I don’t think you’re being at all unreasonable OP. There is NO reason for kids to be screaming full stop. We have neighbours that just seem to kick their very young children outside from dawn till dusk without any supervision and they just scream and scream. It’s shit parenting and it’s inconsiderate as a neighbour.

So for 2 hours of the day kids are playing in their garden.

That’s your complaint.

The world does not stop because you Work From Home.

On the other hand, we have the so-called parents who can’t be bothered teaching their kids the difference between normal playing noise (which is obviously going to include the odd scream of excitement, I doubt many people are going to mind that) and the sort of non-stop banshee screech that a lot of people think is part and parcel of kids playing these days.

Can’t believe the entitlement of people on here saying OP should trail into the office rather than her neighbours bothering to actually parent their kids.

kids are loud. Just one of those things, I do bring mine in if the decibels get too high but tbh they soon forget and it starts again. It’s constant.

also don’t have your windows open in that heat! All you’re doing is letting hot air in to your home. You open your windows when it’s cooled down later in the evening. Least that’s what we do, our house has crazy amount of insulation so gets like an oven.

Well I kind of get it. She can’t control the neighbour or their kids or their parenting. She can control changing her environment.

you can either moan about it or change it. Change what you can.

They are children letting off steam outside their home in a residential area. Our area had a teen on a motorbike with the loudest exhaust at the moment. But he's just finished exams. I'm hoping he'll calm down in a few days.

If you work from home, you have to accept there will be noisy. Maybe close the windows and get a portable air con unit.

Of course not, which is why most people don’t mind a small amount of screaming. That’s not what OP is describing.