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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I recently bought a home that was previously owned by an elderly woman who lived there for over 50 years.  My dc's play often, as well as their friends, in our backyard that is unfenced.  2 neighbors have complained about the playing in our yard.  One is annoyed by the noise (they play during normal hours) and the other doesn't want dc's playing wiffle ball bc his windows [i]might [/i][b]get broken.  I think they are used to our yard not getting any use and don't like the change brought by children living in our home and having neighborhood kids come to play as well.  I refuse to tell my children they can't play in our yard.  Other than a fence, what else can I do?  [/quote]

I'm a typical suburban parent.  We bought a home with a big yard so that our kids could play.  We did fence in the back yard, but the fence is only 4 ft and is picket style, so it would not stop people from seeing the kids/yard and does not contain the sound at all.  Not a privacy fence, but a safety fence.  The fence keeps our young children from running into the street (we have a corner lot so the side yard and side of the backyard at adjacent to the side street).

I think when your neighbors complain that you be firm but polite.  You express sympathy for their situation but you don't make any offers to change behavior.  For the woman who is annoyed by the noise, I would say that children playing in the yard is one of the prices of living in the suburbs, but that you enjoy the sound of children playing.  For the curmudgeon who is worried that his window might get broken, you tell him that you understand his concern and will be glad to pay for the window repair if this ever happens.  I find that if you are polite to people who complain, you don't necessarily have to change what you are doing.  You may not satisfy them, but will get them to stop complaining to you.  You might have to deal with "I told you so" from the neighbor when your kids graduate to baseball and heaven forbid that the kids actually do break one of his windows, but you'll have years of peace from his complaints before that happens.[/quote]

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