To be annoyed at kids playing football

& before you all berate the OP about moaning- well how about the kids parents Move the trampoline over to OTHER side away from her fence??& i believe she said about kicking the balls LOW, not the trampoline jumping!OP is right, wait till you all have that to put up with, then see how you feel? I dont think she's unreasonable at all.And i bet that 13yr old grows up to be a thug who will hurt folk for fun. If kids want to stay indoors on a computer/games at least theyre not hurting or annoying anyone.

I've just realised DS must have been one of those annoying ball-against-the-wall thumpers. No wonder the neighbours all moved. Now we have new neighbours with a ball-against-the-wall thumper and his friends.
Come-uppance.

Actually, there's a primary school near us and we can barely hear them but a neighbour who used to live right next to it commented on how the children couldn't play out without screaming at the tops of their voices all the time. It drove her crackers.

RosiesMaw2

^Read my post again and then comment. They are not just jumping on the trampoline, they are purposely jumping very high^
The trampoline is in their garden - and nobody, kid or adult- jumped on a trampoline with the aim of staying LOW.
Why not take your dog out for a walk when they start on the trampoline?
Or turn your tv up?
You need to sort out your attitude to them - or move as ranting about it never solved anything.

I take my dog out in the morning, and I can't jump up and go walkies every time they are on the trampoline, that would be insane! As I already said, they were not jumping normally, but frantically, without doubt to cause upset.

It's the little girl's trampoline, and normally she doesn't like her big brother on it. They normally don't get on, he is really mean to her, speak to her all the time in a very negative way. So maybe she was pleased to be asked by him to join 'the game'.

Thank you Nanna2

Yes, and even the little girl [about 9yrs] is out in the garden at 10.30pm, so do I have to take a walk in the dark Rosiemaw?

Funny how things work out if you wait. Saw his dad yesterday, topping up both his cars before their trip abroad for 3 weeks Yah

As we were chatting, I thought I will have to mention the footballs. Just said about you son's footballs, I will throw them back for him but can you ask him to keep his play low, as he's done a lot of damage in my garden I was most surprised when he replied ^ Do you know what I do with his footballs^ He then did a motion, indicating stabbing with a knife! He went on to say his son has done tons of damaged to his garden too, including breaking windows!! So, I don't feel so bad now about holding on to the boy's footballs.

I went back into my back garden, took a look at where I'd 'stored' the footballs and...3-4 had gone!! My very large garden broom, which was next to the footballs was knocked over, so guess he either used that or jumped over somehow.

I will throw them back today and maybe stick a note on them saying; to not let them end up in my garden again, or they will stay where they lay

The best way is to make a friend of the kid and not an enemy unfortunately he will now goad you as much as he can

I had 8 kids one side of me variety of ages boys and girls they moved after 15 years I now have 3 one side and 4 the other Yes they have trampoline's, basketball hoops and regular footy practice in the back alleyway I often have balls over but always give them back why wouldn’t I ? they ask with pleases and thank yous and I told them never to knock after 7 pm and they don’t If I m out they know I ll put them over when I get back
Once you ve made a enemy they will find a way to annoy you

I feel sorry for kids we moan they don’t get out enough then moan they re out too much

Wouldn’t bother me, I like to hear children playing outside.
We had three of our grandchildren living with us for a while, and yes they were noisy, yes they played football in the garden, and a couple of times we had to go and ask for the ball back, and yes we have a big trampoline and an above ground pool.
I did caution them to be considerate of the neighbors, who thankfully aren’t on top of us.
But I think it’s lovely to hear them playing outside.

Some kids like playing football and usually the ones on my street are OK as they try to play away from cars and windows- the field at the back is too overgrown for ball games- but there is one who comes up to see his grandparents who just loves booting it into people's windows for a laugh. TBF it's usually when people are out, but it's still anti social.

There's a difference between kids playing football for the fun of playing football, and the anti-social young louts who kick the ball deliberately and repeatedly into cars, fences, windows, etc, because they know it annoys.

... like the one next door to a friend kicking his ball against a wooden fence which was loose and which he knew damned well would ultimately collapse. Which it did.

One has to be tolerant of noisy kids playing outside, it's what they do and I'm sure I made enough racket, shouting and hooting as a child, but disruptive behaviour for the hell of it, intended to antagonise, is - if you'll pardon the pun - an entirely different ball game.

Three of them today decided to go back to playing some anti social game where a football is booted in the air to see where it lands and they didn't seem bothered about cars, satellite dishes and windows. I politely asked them to move as they hit my car and was told, they didn't have enough space to play their game and one said he could do what he wanted. Luckily one of the boy's mothers- the more reasonable of the three- said she was taking him out for the day, and the game stopped, but it will probably start up again.
It's a case of grin and bear it for now as taking the ball will probably lead to a massive row or my car being vandalised( it happened with a different group of kids years ago). As well, I noticed two football marks in the back bumper, but as the bumper's plastic, I could rub them out. It does mean I'm reluctant to trade in my car when the PCP ends next year as I don't want a new one to suffer any damage as I have to park on the street.

Amalegra

Then WHERE are children supposed to get the healthy exercise they need? We are told that levels of childhood obesity and inactivity are rising enormously and that children should be encouraged to be more active. The dangers of too much screen time and social media interaction are well known. Councils have sold off green spaces and playing fields for decades. Large gardens are a luxury that not all children enjoy! Football and sporting clubs for children cost money and there is often the question of transport where it is not available or both parents work. Parents are frightened to let their children go too far from their homes due to perceived stranger danger and lack of police presence. In the past children played in the streets; I can just about remember this, there were far fewer cars on the roads! I would suggest tolerance is an issue here before complaints from the older generation stop this traditional play and these children go back to their screens or, worse, hang around in the streets where the devil makes work for idle hands! I would suggest that this is a society wide problem, where the needs of our future generation have been shamefully ignored. Lots of children play near my home. I like to see them active and hear them having fun. I am at a loss to understand how this person can feel the way she does.

Around her, a London/Kent suburb, we have many parks, open council land, and woodlands

Plenty of places they can go, without annoying anyone, as we used to.🤷‍♀️

There is a field at the back of where I live, but the grass is too long to play football and it's popular with dog walkers. Other alternative that the kids sometimes use is a piece of grass where some bedsits stood until they pulled down 8 years ago. I don't want to make enemies of these kids, as the oldest one can be quite polite on his own, but it's not fair for people in the flats on the other side of the street where the ball is booted into for laughs or those of us with cars. It does seem to stop when the nights get longer and the schools go back.

Yes, BlueBelle Sat 27-Jul-24 10:26:55
The best way is to make a friend of the kid and not an enemy unfortunately he will now goad you as much as he can.

I did always have a little chat with him over the fence. When The Euro-cup football was on, he was still out there furiously kicking his football! I said to him E aren't you watching the football on TV he told me it hadn't started yet, which was correct as it was just the foreword commentary.

Lots of children play near my home

I've noticed all those posters that berate me & OP, don't have the problem.

There were a lot of children living round here (mine included) and they did play out but all grown up and moved away now apart from a couple of teenagers. They sometimes have a kickaround outside when friends come over but it's not all the time thank goodness.

I find it annoying when people bring their dogs for a walk and let them go on front lawns ⛔

I think YABU. I appreciate it makes you anxious but it’s not a good enough reason to stop children playing outdoors. Can you get some EarPods? Children have always played outside please don’t discourage outdoor play

I admit we don’t have a problem, probably in the past we have been the problem, although I have always tried to be respectful of the neighbors.

But it’s true, you need to keep on good terms, one of our neighbours couldn’t have cared less about the ball over his fence, the other side it would have been pretty much impossible to get the ball over, unless I’d had a premier league striker in the garden, but they could probably hear them more, and I was constantly waiting for them to complain, because they are quite interfering, they never did, but I was always expecting it,
Children do have to play, and shout and laugh, we’ve all had children, we should be more tolerant.

My daughter always played outside, but I'd fetch her in if she kept shouting and screaming, or was being a nuisance in other ways.

It doesn't seem to happen these days.

It probably just a summer thing. Not worth making an enemy of neighbours.

Wow they’re playing football, not smoking weed, playing loud music and revving bike!

I agree with MissAdventure. It's different nowadays. Kids weren't allowed screech and scream for hours the way they are nowadays. Neighbours were allowed tell kids to tone it down, be careful with the ball, it's too late to be making that racket etc without having to tolerate:

a) A mouthful of cheek and abuse from the children
b) A deliberate augmentation of the noise along with some targeting of them for the next few days for daring to 'tell them what to do
c) An indignant parent marching up to their door to inform them about their child's 'rights', and how they're just 'children being children' etc etc etc.

It is small wonder people feel on edge nowadays when kids start making a lot of noise or play in a way that is annoying and disruptive. It's very easy to accuse neighbours of being intolerant or grumpy. But neighbourly relationships are a 2 way street and some parents and the way they bring their children up nowadays don't help matters.

Buttonjugs, could you park your car in the street, it would stop you being anxious about car damage. The noise would be annoying but at least your car would be safe

Nanniejude

Wow they’re playing football, not smoking weed, playing loud music and revving bike!

That is the next stage, when they are older. Their parents obviously have no care nor control

Exactly Karmalady. That's what happened where I live. Children running around uncontrolled and defended by parents when anyone complained turning into self entitled teenagers who think they can do what they like including smoking weed everywhere and anywhere and refusing to move when asked, in fact becoming indignant and aggressive at anyone thinking they can 'tell them what to do'.

There was a problem with a group of them I might have mentioned who started booting a football into people's windows and were making people's lives a misery in the flats opposite me. This does seem to have mostly died down now and the kids mostly play on some grass with the ball. ( Possibly the ones in rented accomodation have received warning letters from their housing association.)