Neighbour upset with kids next door for this petty reason

“People are so entitled now. It’s depressing.”

Laura Jackel

3 min read

July 31, 2024 - 5:50PM

Image: iStock.

Lifestyle

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The tranquil sounds of the suburbs are often, well, not that tranquil at all. Maybe your neighbour loves to mow the lawn at 7am on a Sunday, there’s a dog that barks all night long, or the noisy kids from over the back just won’t quit screaming.

While none of these annoyances are illegal, they sure can be irritating and yet as one mum found out, not everyone will agree on how to handle it.

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"A right grump"

The mum who describes herself as a “right grump” said that her neighbour’s kids were keeping her shift working son awake these school holidays and it was a major problem.

“Our garden backs onto two houses, both of which are owned by couples with young kids and all four parents work from home full time,” the mum of two older kids writes.

“The [neighbourhood] kids (youngest is aged three are all primary school aged) regularly play outside in the gardens.

“The houses are new builds with literally no plants or shrubs. Just lawn surrounded by fence and 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 underway, it’s become apparent that getting up and out into the garden at 8am is their routine. And they shout. A lot.”

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"He's fed up"

The mum goes on to say that at 10am the kids take a break inside and it goes quiet temporarily and while she can deal with it, her older son who works late shifts at a pub is suffering.

“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's 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.”

She ends her post by saying she is considering asking her neighbours if they could prevent their kids from going outside until 9am but wondered if that was unreasonable.

The comments were mostly pretty quick to pass judgement on the cranky mum.

“I appreciate it's annoying but you can't reasonably ask them not to use their garden during summer at 8am,” one mum replied.

“Can your son use some earplugs? 8am isn't early.”

Another added: “Having worked night shifts for 12 years I'm afraid its ear plugs and black out blinds or stop moaning.”

With a third offering some advice: “Could your son swap bedrooms with someone else in the house so his room doesn't overlook the gardens? Might dull the noise a bit for him. I used to work in hospitality so I understand the difficulty with shifts, but 8am really isn't early enough to complain about kids in gardens in the summer holidays.”

"Some people are just inconsiderate"

A few users were on the original poster’s side.

“I disagree with the majority,” said one poster adding: “8am is early, especially for loud noise. Some people are just inconsiderate of their neighbours.”

Another felt the same: “I don’t think you’re being unreasonable at all. I would not have let mine out playing at that time. And they’ll be able to see your son’s curtains still drawn. People are so entitled now. It’s depressing.”

One self confessed “grumpy woman” admitted she just had to learn to live with a noisy neighbourhood.

"I'm on your side OP!"

“I'm on your side OP. Fully aware that I'm a grumpy old woman and I should live in a field, but I don't, so grumpy I shall remain.

“I've been on leave this week and I've been woken at 7/8am every day by vans loading, power tools, lawnmowers and kids screaming. Can't do anything about it but of course it's annoying!”