Mum branded 'unneighbourly' for allowing kids to be noisy in their own garden

23 September 2023 , 10:56

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The neighbours of this family have had enough of the noise (Stock photo) (Image: Getty Images)

Disputes with your neighbours can ruin your home life and make living peacefully impossible. Wanting to provide a safe and fun environment for your family to live and play adds an additional element to this which can intensify neighbour disputes. Noise continues to be a common quarrel amongst neighbours and whilst some noise is unavoidable when you live in close proximity to others, some disturbances could be avoided with some lifestyle changes and conscious consideration.

One mum recently asked for advice after receiving complaints from her neighbours about her noisy children. The dispute is additionally complicated thanks to a historic grudge between the two homes dating back to nine years ago when the Mumsnet user’s children were babies.

The mum refuses to back down and will not change her children's playtime habits (Stock photo) (Shared Content Unit)

In a post on Mumsnet, she wrote: "When my kids were babies, the house next door was sold. The new owners were noisy with music … car doors slamming at 2 in the morning, nothing serious, just annoying. I asked them a couple of times if they could be considerate but it made no difference.

"Now they have a baby and my kids play outside. They aren't too bad, a little bit of shouting but the bouncing of a basketball is now the soundtrack to my life. I had a note a few weeks ago asking to limit the kids outside but ignored it. The neighbour has just been around and asked if my kids could stop bouncing the ball in the yard."

Coming to the defence of her children - aged eight and nine years old - the mum explained that she already limits the timings of when they are allowed to be outside to 8:30 am at the earliest and 8 pm at the latest, and told her neighbour that he will just have to live with the noise.

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Asking the forum for their thoughts, she said: "He got upset as it's annoying and wakes the baby. I said I understood as we had the same issue with them when the kids were little, but they will just have to live with it like we did. Am I being unreasonable?"

Igniting debate in the comments, the dilemma left people divided over this issue with one commenter saying: "That repetitive bouncing noise of a basketball on concrete is one of the most annoying sounds ever. It can grate on my nerves, throw in screaming and shouting and I'd be fit to murder. Do the neighbourly thing!" and another adding, "You should be teaching your children manners, how to be respectful of others, not that their amusement is more important than others' peace and quiet."

Defending the mum, one user said: "I think kids need to be outdoors playing as much as possible for health reasons. In the past, they would have been able to go out on their bikes or to a playground by themselves, but that's too risky these days. I think the children need to be allowed to play in their garden without time restrictions. People need to be tolerant of the normal noise of children playing if they live in built-up areas, for the good of the emerging generation."

Another defender of the children playing wrote: "Let them be loud. But not too loud. I would prefer a ball bouncing than the yelling at each other now mine are older!"

Do you agree? Let us know in the comments below.

Naimah Archibald-Powell