Go ahead and vent. That's what we're all here for. Seems like the older we get the louder other people's children are.

I'd miss the peace and quiet also, but I think it's great that dad plays with his kids and offers encouragement. So many dads never play with their kids.

Still. . .

know exactly how you feel ellndi-I go thru something similar,only its ALL adults every wknd when the city ppl come north

It would bother me too. What with all the ringing in my ears and stuff that is my norm, extra loud noise is annoying to say the least.
I am so thankful and lucky to have a relatively quite country like setting here in our little forest in the city.

We must have the same neighbors. Their kids must be about 3 (girl) and 5 (boy). They don't just giggle, laugh or talk, they shriek at the top of their lungs. All day and into about 9 o'clock at night. Am sure they get it from their parents. They sit out on the back deck (outside my bedroom window) and get drunker and drunker and louder and louder until all hours of the morning. DH has talked to them about it. (I get up anywhere from 4 to 6 a.m. - and I am not a happy camper if I've been tossing and turning and trying to cover my ears all night). When they start getting loud, he goes down and turns the outside light on and stands on the porch staring at them for a minute. They quiet down. For about 5 minutes!

Go ahead and vent! I often wish I could have a cone of silence around my house.

It's hard to find a "perfect" place. We live in a wooded area, own almost an acre. One lady just got chickens and there's a campground below us. :0) Once in awhile there's a barking dog.......then up on the mountain behind us is a hiking trail, which is VERY popular on the weekends. Peoples voices carry across the canyon.

Hang in there. It's summer, everyone is spending more time outside. In the fall the kids will be back to school. Sometimes problems solve themselves. So sorry that you are troubled by it; I would be too. We have noisy kids behind us too, but it's far enough that it doesn't bother me.

We have had the same backyard neighbors for over 25 years and we have had the noise levels too of the kids playing with their friends, never the parents. But that noisy little yappy dog of theirs is driving me nuts even with the windows shut. lol I often wonder if my dog barks and annoys them too. lol I try to keep her quiet but she does bark. My neighborhood is mostly older people who are pretty quiet. I'm not venting as I miss some of the noise. I just don't think I would like it when I'm trying to sleep. I would play a radio quietly in my bedroom. Maybe a good nights sleep would help.
Mary

If it's every day for long periods of time, I think you should say something. I love the sound of kids playing, but wouldn't want it nonstop for hours on end. Just like a I couldn't take a dog barking for hours, or someone using a hammer.

Our neighbor had a yapper dog that had access 24/7 to his doggie door. He would go out several times in the middle of the night and get all worked up over squirrels, birds, etc (we back up to woods). I finally had to say something...I sleep bad enough as it is, I didn't need the dog waking me up several times a night on top of it. Well, they were mortified and apologized profusely. From then on they locked the doggie door at night.

This family might be embarrassed if they knew they were bothering the neighbors. Since they are in their own yard they probably don't even realize it.

My DH swears that the street behind our house has a paid position for Summer Screamer. There has been one every year for a dozen years. It's always a very young girl with champion lungs who tantrums early and often throughout the summer. Fortunately there is a large conservancy between our yard and those facing that street.

We are dreading the day the house next to ours sells. This is our only 'close' neighbor. The current owner's kids are off to college, and they want to move East. Only a poor RE market is keeping them here. We know that the first year of new owners will be loud, as they 'enjoy' the pool and fire pit, both on the side of the house nearest our bedroom.

Thanks for the support everyone. I don't think I will say anything at this time. The kids are vey young, hopefully in a year or two they will be involved in sports etc and won't be in the yard as much.

I am just lamenting about my peace and quiet. I find it sad when other peoples lives effect my day to day enjoyment of my backyard. This in includes burning those smelly outdoor chimneys.

We stayed in a condo near Durango for 4 days and nights. YIKES, the people above us walked/stomped around as late as 11:30PM , and as early as 4:30AM

We told the kids whenever they got loud to use their inside voice.

Where I live, I have dogs on three sides, but the one on the south side is the worst. Barks as soon as I go outside, and quits after I go in. YIKES! It is really annoying.

Moni

Moni, I am learning how to stop my dog from excessive barking. I honestly didn't think this was possible, but it is!

My neighbor next door just got one of those basketball hoops on a stand for her kids. It's about 15 feet away from my house, maybe less. That thunk-thunk-thunk reverberates off my house. When a bunch of kids get playing, it is brutal. Fortunately the kids are at camp or school most of the day. The youngest daughter has regular melt-downs and has a voice that could break glass. In general, they are nice enough kids and the mother keeps things under control, but that basketball hoop is like the Chinese water torture.

The worst for me is dogs. A former neighbor had two black labs that would run to the fence and snuffle around whenever I sat on the patio. The barked a lot, too.

I feel bad for you, Ellendi. Just when you want to enjoy the peace of your own property, thoughtless neighbors intrude.

Ellendi, can you share how you're getting your dog to stop the excess barking? Our girls love to bark to say hello, we're here! I blame one well-meaning neighbor who calls to them by name over the fence. We also seem to have someone throwing them the occasional bone, but no one will own up to it. Our other neighbor has a small yappy dog that barks for our girls to run along the fence too. My girls hear the dog from inside the house and cry to be let out. No one has said anything, but I do worry that my noisy girls can be irritating.

I'm sorry that your peace is disturbed by the noise. I think you might be right that in a few years, the kids will be in organized sports so the yelling and encouragement will be at a local field or park and not next door.

The older I get the more I am bothered by other people's noise. But the thing I have never been able to tolerate is when kids scream. The kind of screams you scream when you are in trouble. The kind of screams that make you want to call 911 to report someone is in trouble. The kind of screams that when you hear them, you wonder if the kid is the victim of an attempted kidnapping or child abuse.

We were not allowed to scream like that when we were kids. Our parents didn't prohibit our being loud. But we were always told that if we screamed like that, it should only be because we needed immediate help.

We have been mostly Lucky. Our neighborhood was mostly older, retired folks.... but next door became a rental 5-6 years ago. Only one family with a trampoline and bunches of 'home schooled' kids really woke up the 'hood; only stayed the school year, thankfully. In back of us, they have grandkids....girls, screamers full time. I'm jealous that they see their grands in the summer, but it is not so peaceful as I like it.

But, then.... there is something good about hearing aids. Even in my house...DH doesn't need them (ha) but the TV is pretty loud.

I am losing my hearing so am pretty tolerant of other people's noise. And other dog's noise. My dogs do bark sometimes but a lot of the time I'm out there with them and bring them in if they get too rambunctious.

There are yappers next door who yap at me if I do yard work near their property line, I laugh at them and tell them they got no right if I'm on my property, they don't listen.

I did bring in my wind chime collection both because wasps were building nests in them but also because I got to thinking that in windy weather others might not appreciate them.

My neighbor two doors down is a good old boy who plays music while working on cars outside. His taste in music is exactly what I like so it is actually welcome.

Alice, it's a company called Bark Busters. A trainer comes to your home and evaluates your needs.

Thank you. I've heard of them, but it's good to know they work.

I taught my kids the same way as when I was young... playing and laughing is fine but you'd better not scream unless you are hurt. No screaming "for fun"...As far as dogs, we do not let the peke out unless we are home, if he starts barking we bring him in so he won't disturb the neighbors...we have a small backyard on an acre lot but sound carries around here, it's basically prairie, and we do hear other dogs left outside.

Our kids were never allowed to scream either. Laugh, giggle and holler but no screaming unless it was life or death. So sorry you peace and quiet is being disturbed.

It makes me happy that kids are actually outside playing and even happier that they have a participating parent joining in their fun.

We complain about the obesity rate among the young, the couch potatoes who are addicted to TV, and the gang type thugs who bring neighborhood trouble. What, exactly do we want our little ones to be doing for summertime fun??

I'm so tired of everyone wearing their OVER-sensitive sensibilities on their sleeve, just waiting to be offended!

"I'm so tired of everyone wearing their OVER-sensitive sensibilities on their sleeve, just waiting to be offended!"

Although as I posted above I am bothered by other's people's noise more now than I was many years ago, I have ALWAYS been bothered by the sounds of kids (or anyone, actually) screaming. To me, it means that person is in trouble and needs help as soon as humanly possible. I know that not all kids are taught that by their parents, so I have not yet called 9-1-1 when I hear kids screaming. Perhaps someday I shall, so that the kid and his/her parents will learn the difference between simply being excessively loud and sounding like they're being maimed/tortured/abducted/raped/killed, etc.

And I don't think that's having "OVER-sensitive sensibilities."

I, too, am thrilled that some kids are actually able to interact with other kids and use their imaginations when they play outdoors. But if kids are allowed to believe that it's okay for them to scream as if they are in danger when they're not, then they should also be taught that someday they may be in a situation where a scream is warranted, but all of their neighbors will be thinking "the little boy/girl who cried 'wolf.'"

I wouldn't say anything, it would just cause dissension and I'd rather have a peaceful neighbor hood. and truth is, it could make it worse instead of better......you move into a neighborhood where there are kids you have to expect to hear them...When I lived in MA, I could hear them behind the tree line. didn't bother me because it wasn't that loud, being the "Granny" that I am, always brought a smile to my face.

There is always at least one bad apple in a neighborhood when it comes to noise. For me its the guy behind who has zero inkling as to what an ass he is. I have had many sleepless nights listening to drunk parties where women are cackling at 4 in the morning. I sometimes fantasize in the wee hours of those mornings of a dropping a stink bomb in there yard (don't have a clue how to do this) The kids do the ear piercing screams, the bawling and crying because they are spoiled and tiered, the jumping on the trampoline and the pool and their dog's barks and fight with the kids then the adults yell on and on and on. Although I may have jinxed my self because this year has been better fewer parties, the weather has also been cooler and wetter this year, and... a cop moved in to my side of the neighborhood probably coincidence. I don't really believe that he has changed and become aware or considerate of other people. This morning they woke up the block at 6:30 with screams and squeals. Im like many hear that type of behavior would have been met by my parents with the phrase keep that up and I will give you something to cry scream etc. about.
Kids who grow up without rules limits or awareness that sometimes they have to sacrifice for others, to learn consideration of others by watching their parents behavior, grow up to become young adults who can not cope when they don't get their way. I have seen it a lot.
But back to the noise unfortunately there isn't much that can be done without the PITA starting a war. Although one year I had a neighbour with an inflatable two story water slide they made a lot! of noise and even when they were not using it would leave the motor/fan going to keep it inflated very noisy. So I played the classical music loudly to drown it out, they didn't seem to care for it, oh well each to their own.

My next door neighbor has 2 hunting dogs in pens, 5 feet from my property line. There are bushes on his property between the pens and the property line. I'm NOT a dog lover, but I feel sorry for them.

They are mature dogs that he lets out once a day for 5 minutes. One barks when a train whistle blows when the train gets to the crossing, about 1/2 mile away. Actually, he howls. I guess the whistle hurts his ears. But the neighbor puts bark collars on him (I think he's wearing 2 collars now) so now he just whines and whimpers when the whistle blows. The dogs don't bark at me or other people, but they do bark if they see other dogs.

When they're loose, sometimes they run through my yard and occasionally stop to poop. When I find their poop I pick it up and throw it in their yard.

But the worst is the smell. Our prevailing winds are from the southwest, and their pen is southwest from my screened in back porch. And my favorite hosta bed is right in between. When neighbor is home, it's not too bad because he gives the pens a thorough cleaning first thing in the morning, every morning. But when he's gone (which is more and more often the closer he gets to retirement), a teenage neighbor is supposed to take care of the dogs, and they don't get cleaned as well or as often.

I'm thinking of installing a tall solid fence, probably vinyl. Pricey, but worth it.

When my kids were little, our house was where the neighborhood kids often came to play. There were many, many watergun battles pitched to defend the tree house or the teepee the boys made out of big branches and rope. There was a lot of yelling and screaming. Not I-hate-you-screaming but man-the-doorway-she's-coming-up-the-rope screaming. My daughter has a voice that would shatter glass. Many times I talked to her about her amazing, wonderful voice that is so powerful she must be very gentle with it. I think that's how I taught her the meaning of the word "appropriate". My husband and I, along with any visiting parents, shouted encouragement and sometimes played, too.

I know it disrupts your peace and quiet, and I'm sure it's frustrating. I love to relax outside with a cup of tea in the peace and quiet, too. Hopefully the young mother is grateful for your patience. I know I was sure grateful for my wonderful neighbors.