Noisy children.

They shouldn't be kicking the ball up the fence, can you ask them to stop?

Depends if it’s your fence I suppose. I’d rather hear children out than indoors on tablets, watching TV etc, they’ve been cooped up along with a lot of us for months.

This is difficult for you. You want to enjoy your garden and it is not very relaxing with noisy children. It sounds to me as though they are overly noisy. Kicking the ball against the fence needs to be stopped and a child who screams all the time is surely not enjoying herself.
I know children are noisy when they play and I enjoy that sound but this is a bit too much and I would have a word with the parents.

I sympathise annsixty. It seems that nowadays children should be heard above all.

Somehow it doesn't sound to me as though you can have a word with the parents. It clearly doesn't bother them.
You'll have to put cotton-wool in your ears as there's all summer to go yet.

I like hearing kids scream and shout it shows we re all alive one of the awful things about this pandemic is the poor kids kept in, it must be so miserable for the parents and now the weather is starting to improve (although it’s blooming freezing still here) they do need to be out
Put your radio on or use ear buds to listen to some favourite music or podcasts
If it was nighttime loud music or a constant dog barking next door I think you be justified but kids playing you can’t really expect them to play quietly at those ages

What WOULD be an acceptable level of noise for you Ann?

I think that's something to consider. Any noise if consistent when you are expecting peace and quiet is going to be annoying and children scream its just what they do. High excitement= screaming. Cross = screaming. Delight....well you see where I'm going with this.

If its your fence then I think you are quite within your rights to ask the parents to stop that but the general noise of children- after a winter of being indoors and in lockdown - is just modern day living I'm afraid.

I see a good set of Bose noise cancelling headphones in your future :-)

I am in my 40s and the screaming/shouting/kids noise is one thing, kicking a ball against a fence or wall is another. Could you just say you know they need to enjoy their garden but could they stop kicking the ball up the fence? My boys have always known not to do it when they were growing up and I'd be certifiable if my neighbours had done it (one did once and they didn't do it again) I don't think it matters whose fence it is, it is really loud and horrible

I have three young children living here at the moment, and yes, they are noisy.
When they play outside they shriek with laughter, they kick balls, the youngest one throws the odd tantrum, but I am just loving hearing them outside after this long winter.
We aren’t too close to our neighbors, but I’m sure they can hear them, and I do remind the children occasionally that there are other people around.
I don’t want to upset any of my neighbours, but if they complained, I’m afraid I wouldn’t take it very seriously.

I am afraid you seem to have a noisy family next door. I love hearing children outside playing but screaming all day long is not necessary. I never allowed my children to scream unless it was with laughter. Children can let you know they are alive by playing without screaming.
I sympathise Anne but I am not sure what you can do. Lets hope the parents are not keen on playing music in their garden as listening to other people's radios drives me mad.

Actually I think kids screaming and kicking a ball against the fence non stop are far worse than barking dogs. You should be able to talk to kids and their parents but you can't reason with dogs. The parents have my sympathy needing to keep the kids entertained 24/7but there's no reason to drive the neighbours up the wall, they could take the kids to the park/playground to burn off some energy. Kids should be taught what they consider fun can be downright annoying for others especially if it goes on for hours. Although their parents don't sound too bothered.

I have neighbours next door but one with a young boy. In the summer all you hear is a football being kicked against the fence. It doesn’t bother me that much but if I lived right next door. I would have to knock and politely ask for it too stop.

unfortunately i think the problem is the noisy parents.
the children model themselves and their behavioural norms on how their parents conduct themselves.
can you put on the radio to mask it a bit, something cheerful or jaunty like angel vintage. i heard a song on there that made even me smile yesterday, i like bananas because they have no bones.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-QkMaCS7CU

I wouldn’t like the kicking of ball at a fence going on, and while I hate screaming I would let it go, they are being children. I’d rather that than a barking dog all day long

The garden in question is at the bottom of mine and we have a fence and a hedge on our side.
The previous owner who was a friend of mine liked the hedge quite high and she would trim it to her liking, this was a very amicable arrangement.
After the new people moved in I went and introduced myself the and explained about the hedge, they could cut it if they wished, we usually get it done professionally every couple of years.
The woman didn’t even tell me her name or offer any comment really.
A few months later her husband came round, again didn’t introduce himself apart from saying that he was from the house at the back and asked if my S could cut the hedge.
I asked if he would help and that was the end of it.
You campb maybe see why I would be loathe to go round.
I have never ever fallen out with neighbours and I don’t intend to state now.
I may resort to taking the radio out and play classical music very loudly.??

All is now silent, they must have gone in for tea.?

It doesn’t sound like they’re doing anything wrong to me. And why would you expect him to cut your hedge?

I admit the kicking ball could be annoying, I wouldn’t allow that, because it would annoy me as well.
But screaming isn’t usually continuous, our little one shrieks and squeals with joy when her siblings push her on the swings, or chase her around the garden.
Honestly, it fills me with joy.

I think the problem arises when you realise a particular sound is annoying, then you becomes sensitised to it. Every time you hear it your brain switches into overload and drives you crazy. Is it possible to 're-train' your brain to accept these sounds (or at least most of them) as normal? Try and get your brain to put it on the back burner, so it becomes background noise. I'm sure people who live near airports or railways have to learn to do that. It's all about how you perceive the noise, and unless you can achieve this state of bliss I think you will suffer constantly.

Amberspyglass
I don’t expect him to cut my hedge.
I was merely saying if they would like it lower than it was they were very welcome to cut it to their desired height.
I quite like it at a reasonable height for privacy for them and us.
We have never let it become a nuisance .
Please don’t put words in my mouth that I haven’t uttered.

It doesn’t sound like they are doing anything wrong to me

Pity they are not your neighbours then Amberspyglass

You have my sympathy annsixty, they sound awful.

When I was about 7 we had a fixation on doing handstands up against a wall with dresses tucked in knickers I clearly remember a nearby house had a very convenient end wall and we would go one after the other doing handstands ...and thinking it about it as an adult I realised those poor people would have had a couple of hours of thuds every evening till we went in about 7.30
I don’t think there is an answer annsixty apart from headphones and radio I think chestnut is right once something annoys you you without realising it concentrate on that I ve got music next door which I can only just hear over the tv so it’s not overly loud but it often starts to grate Try not to dwell on it

I have posted my thoughts, I have mostly received the replies I suppose I expected, however I shall still start threads On topics I feel strongly about.
I shall leave this one now.

i would keep the hedge thick and high, might muffle the noise a bit.
your other idea reminds me of a bus station near here that used to play classical music to deter teens from loitering.
then it was objected that they were being subjected to unfair punishment, having tchaikovsky blasted at them, so it stopped.