Summer noise

Yes, my grandson wears ear defenders all the time.

Fflaurie

I do love to hear children playing, but not screaming, I love the sound of birds, but can't hear them for the noise of garden implements, and I do wear noise cancelling buds when I'm out there, I would simply love to sit in my garden listening to the birds in peace.

I understand this. I rarely sit in the garden, not because of noise-aversion, but because I'm not a fan of sitting outside with wasps, the sun in my eyes and nothing to do, but I don't understand why children need to scream. Laughter and general playing noise is lovely, and adults entertaining and enjoying themselves is absolutely fine now and then, but screaming and the thud of balls against walls, or basketballs through hoops are like torture, as is loud music.

In the event that I do sit outside I don't want to wear headphones . The whole point is surely to be at one with nature and hear the birdsong.

My children weren't allowed to scream. If they made too much noise they got two warnings, and if it continued they were brought inside, regardless of whether it was they who screamed or friends playing with them in our garden. It is so inconsiderate of shift workers, the ill and anyone who has as much right to peace in their own home as other have to fresh air.

I understand. There's been extremely loud building work going on very close, 6 days a week since March. I was hoping for some peace in my garden - it was not to be!

There’s nothing unusual or abnormal in being irritated by excessive noise. I am also irritated by the sounds you describe OP. You have my sympathy. The summer is full of noise as you describe. Personally, I don’t mind the sound of a single non motorised lawnmower along with the associated smell of newly cut grass, or a game of cricket and associated clapping with the occasional cheer. Also, it is lovely to have children playing nearby if they are taught how to behave and not to scream and shout, then they are a delight. If they are not taught any manners, consideration or behavioural limits however, they are not charming in the least. Sundays used to be a time of not disturbing others and having a nice quiet family day together either at home or out (without the excessive use of power tools or unending hammering, or loud music or any combination of those). I’m sorry this has changed and consideration for others seems not to be the norm any more. You have my full sympathy. I am certain there are considerate families out there too, but they go unnoticed.

The sound of children playing is one thing - that very high pitched screaming is quite another. Sympathies for anyone who has to suffer it. We had a family next door whose young children seemed to be permanently on the trampoline, screaming.
It honestly made me feel murderous. Mine were never allowed to scream like that.
It was such a relief when they moved away.

I live in Luxembourg and the local bylaws and the culture of most of the immigrants like me who live in the country and locals want a quiet Sunday.
Mostly we get a quiet Sunday and the majority of people do not drink, talk loudly, play music late in the evening.

Some people are being a bit harsh. Maybe they have noisy grandchildren. Everyone should have the choice to have peace and quiet in their own home and garden if they want to. But the world is not like that. We intrude on each other all the time. I am one who likes peace and quiet and luckily I have it but it has not always been so. Dogs barking can be unbearable. Also children screaming is so loud. Balls banging against a wall. But we don't hear out own noise of course. When I was a child I lived in a street of tenements and when I came in from playing I was sometimes hoarse from screaming all day. Poor neighbours. Controlling your own environment is a luxury for those who have the money to do so.. like so much else.

Other people's noise is one thing, excessive noise like children screaming or constant noise for hours on end is quite another

I was walking the dog last month in the park next to an infants school. At the top of her voice
'I hate Mrs X, I hate Mr Y, I hate ...' as she listed every teacher, TA, dinner lady etc. As she paused for breath, a little lad's quiet voice could be heard 'I hate you Jenny'

You see Fflaurie, you don't have to be old like us for it to get on your nerves

There are around 600 households on our estate but we're rarely bothered by the noise. Occasionally somebody will do a bit of DIY ourside normal hours, but not often.
Sometimes we get music wafting over the river from a concert at Kew Gardens, or from the local private park where they hold weddings, but it usually stops at 10.
The only noise that really annoys me is the diesel leaf blower that the gardener uses. There are hardly any leaves on the ground at this time of year but he still uses it, it's also very smelly.

We do intrude on one another all the time, as you say, Chiatriona. The difference is that some noises are impossible to control - off the top of my head, church bells, aeroplanes, passing trains, traffic - but others are inflicted on us, such as screaming (not just playing) children, barking/yapping dogs, balls bouncing on walls, loud music, whether from cars with open windows, scaffolders or people playing music in their gardens.

It is the latter group that cause annoyance, as the people making the noise could simply not do it, or take the trouble to teach their children or train their dogs not to do it. Lawn mowers/leaf blowers etc can be used late morning/early afternoon where possible, to minimise the chances of spoiling anyone's lie in or early night.

It's not difficult - yes, we have to live our lives, but we can consider others whilst doing so. On the odd occasion where we have to make noise (building work or similar) most people will be tolerant if it is kept to a minimum otherwise. I think it's as much the lack of respect as the noise itself that's annoying a lot of the time.

Absolutely agree, Fflaurie drives me nuts. Had a week in a gite in Brittany, so quiet you could hear the trickle of a stream, bliss.
Children now are so noisy and in every shop are allowed to play shreiky, fast chase around the shop. No wonder they grow into such disrespectful horrors. French children are a delight so well behaved.
And don't get me on dogs, everywhere, everywhere along with their poo and poo bags. Sometimes I wish for bad weather, keep 'em all indoors.

I do think that people are less considerate and noisier than they used to be. My hearing level is down but find background music and people in cafes so much noisier even so.

But I love the sound of the children playing around me ( I am child friendly volunteering at school and for scouts/guides), just the one little spoiled brat further down who screams all of the time! So much so that her neighbours have put up a thick tall hedge to try to mask it. There is always one to spoil things.
DH will jump up to mow the lawn when he hears the neighbours doing theirs which reduces the neighbourhood noise time.

The only bugbear I have is the neighbours behind who seem to wait until I have just put a line of whites out to light their bbq.

My sister and I were never allowed to scream, to the point if we were ever attacked in any way we wouldn’t have been able to! I didn’t let my DD scream either, it’s a noise that genuinely hurts my ears. Love to hear children at play though, just no screaming or screeching please.

Children playing and laughing is nice to hear but I agree with the screaming . I think that is going to cause a problem if ..God forbid.. one got attacked. Nobody looks out now if they hear screaming. A self defence course I went on said shout "fire" because we are becoming deaf to screams

Round here its the sound of tractors and trailers tearing up the road at break neck speeds. Some towing huge slurry tankers, dread to think what it would be like if one over-turned - yuk.

My garden backs on to the school playing field so it gets plenty of noise at breaktimes and lunch times. Now it's summer holiday there is total silence. Our houses are built away from the road so most of the time all I hear is the birds.

We are all different, aren’t we? I like lots of things about summer but I don’t like the heat. And I hate closing my curtains even in the winter - I live in a town and I like to be able to see and hear human activity too.

But have always liked the idea that I think they have in Germany, where you’re not allowed to use powered tools on Sundays. Most of the shops are closed too and I think HGV movements are restricted. It doesn’t seem to affect national productivity.

But I thought Sundays were deadly boring as a child/teenager. Like others, we were not allowed to play outside unless we were relatively quiet. We were told that people had worked all week and needed a rest on Sundays without hearing children arguing and shouting. I think it was quite good in that it made us more aware of the impact of our behaviour on other people. And we had a proper sense of our place in the pecking order, which was pretty near the bottom back then!

I had a workman at the bottom of my garden, he was painting all the wooden buildings. Having been out when I came back I went down just to let him know I was back and
of course to check all okay. He commented it must be awful for my neighbour being so deaf especially as she is quite young. I had to tell him she isn't deaf but speaks very loudly especially when on phone. Well she must have been on her phone for a couple of hours as he said he'd heard her all afternoon. That's the kind if noise I just cannot stand.

I do also love the sounds of summer and children laughing playing in a normal way at a reasonable volume.
I think noise levels have increased markedly over the past 30 years. Often wonder if a lot of really noisy people can actually hear themselves qnd if they suffer with undiagnosed hearing problems

Noise cancelling headphones help but are difficult to sleep in.

I don't understand why children have to scream. We have new neighbours with children, and they constantly scream and shout. If something serious happened and they screamed no-one would take notice.

@Fflaurie I think you mean angle grinders? I mainly have lawnmowers and the odd leaf blower.

Our neighbour whistles tunelessly whenever he's in the garden. We were sitting out in the garden the other day and he was treating us to a terrible rendition of Singin' in the Rain

My worst problem is dogs. One side terriers who are let into the garden at 7 -8 am and left out all day until dark, constantly yapping. On the other side a lovely helpful Great Grandma, who looks after her DC and DGC and DGGC's dogs every day, about 8 per day on average, all of which bark and yap throughout the day, (also left out in her garden). I live with a permanent headache. She says she does it because they bark and upset the neighbours when left at home alone all day. I agree and say it must be very annoying, but it falls on deaf ears, she doesn't make the connection. So inconsiderate, but I say nothing directly as I don't want to fall out with my neighbours.

You are not alone Fflaurie, we suffer greatly from summer noise. When our neighbour retired he took up woodworking as a hobby, but its all done outside in the garden using power tools. The circular saw is the worst. The scream of the saw is never ending and when that stops another power tool takes over. Its impossible to go outside. I have tried ear plugs and headphones, but really I would like to sit in my garden with a nice cup of tea, read a book and listen to the birds. I was away last week at a festival in a bustling coastal town and it was utterly quiet in the garden of the place I was renting. Couldnt believe it. DH is refusing to move.

10.30 - 11.15 last night, screaming and hooting outside. It was a baby short ear owl sitting on our wall demanding to be fed. It looked very sweet and fluffy but very noisy. Moved on eventually. Who says the country is quiet 😃😃