Single mum 'intimidated' by fuming neighbours over kids play football in their own garden
| Author | Katie Williams |
| Published date | 29 June 2022 |
| Publication title | EdinburghLive (Scotland) |
She explained on Mumsnet: "My neighbours have sent me a couple of very unpleasant text messages telling me to stop my boys playing football in our garden as they don't want to hear it.
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"I don't know what to do. I'm feeling really anxious to be honest. They've never raised it as a concern before the messages, and the tone was intimidating.
"I replied to the first one suggesting we reach an agreement where we can all enjoy our gardens, and this was responded to by them telling - not asking - me to send them to the park down the road. Those were their words - telling not asking. They're in their early 50's. Boys are 11 and 15. We have a decent sized garden.
"I'm a single parent so feel I'm an easy target."
She added: "They talked about the sound of the ball bouncing. The boys do make a noise too to be fair, they're calling to each other like you do when you play.
"It was about 7pm on a Sunday when the message arrived. They'd been out there for half an hour. That was the only time that day they'd been outside. We'd been out all day.
"For context they spend every other weekend at their dad's house and half the school holidays. Do I have any options other than moving house?!"
The post quickly gained nearly 300 comments with hundreds of people offering advice and their two-cents. Some told her to stand her ground, while others sided with the neighbours.
"Moving is a bit dramatic, send them to the park", one replied.
A second said: "Send them to the park. That's why parks exist in residential areas."
Another agreed and hit back: "Your 15 year-old is probably too big and noisy to play in your garden. I send mine to the park. It's not safe having him play with a ball in our garden!!"
"Honestly, the sound of a ball repeatedly bouncing is incredibly annoying. I have a neighbour (adult not child) who shoots netball goals every day and it's driving me up the wall. I won't say anything as she's not doing anything wrong per...
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