I don’t remember if my mom ever had a “rule” about how early we could be outside as kids because, as far as I know, that’s just where we were. In the driveway playing basketball, riding our bikes up and down the street, knocking on a neighbor’s door to see if someone could play — and I have zero memory of anybody ever complaining about it.
I’m sure there were some mornings that it was barely light outside and we were already pretending to be archaeologists in the backyard, screeching with joy when we found a “dinosaur bone.” I just assumed that most people were happy we were outside, having a childhood, and not watching endless hours of Nickelodeon (although we for sure did that, too).
But apparently, not everybody is happy about kids playing outside “too early.” And when I say “too early,” I mean before 10 a.m.
In a Reddit post on the subreddit/parenting (which has since been redacted), one parent asked, “What time is playing outside in the morning acceptable?” The original poster (OP) shared that their two sons were outside playing basketball around 9 a.m. when the OP’s neighbors asked them to “please wait until 10 a.m.” for that kind of outside noise.
Um.
Every day there’s a new debate about where kids “belong,” with people arguing that kids shouldn’t be allowed in breweries or people asking for “adult hours” at the local grocery store or zoo. Now we want to police what time they go outside to play?
And you just know that if they weren’t playing outside, someone would judge the parents for raising “iPad kids.”
OP said that they fully understand why early mornings don’t need a whole lot of kid screaming or shrieking, but no basketball until 10 a.m. felt like a bit much. While many on Reddit agreed, some did actually side with the neighbor.
If I’m being honest, I think any complaining about kids playing outside is bullsh*t.
Obviously this doesn’t mean kids should be allowed to destroy things or cause mischief at 7 a.m., but if you’re complaining that kids are being “too loud” outside or that their basketball bouncing on the pavement is too irritating or that the sounds of them laughing on their own swing set annoy you — go ahead and take several seats.
“I think 9 (aka business hours) is kind of a universal ‘everyone is awake’ hour,” one commenter wrote. “That used to be the time you could call someone’s house — before that was rude on a weekend because you didn’t want to wake anyone up.”
“I think 8 is fine, though 9 is probably slightly more agreeable. In the summer, people are up mowing lawns and using leaf blowers by then to beat the heat. 10 is totally unreasonable,” shared another.
But quite a few people argued that basketball is a grating enough outdoor activity to wait until later. Some suggested that even with sound machines and other noises in the home, they were still woken by kids playing outside, whether it was basketball or just being loud.
“The folks that work all week should be able to sleep in on Saturdays without hearing a bouncing ball. Plenty of outdoor activities that don’t cause loud noises,” one commenter wrote.
Sure. Yes. Be sure to tell big trucks they can’t drive by at 8 a.m. either, and make sure there are no birds chirping outside, too.
Common courtesy is a thing, of course. Just like you can assume most of us are not letting our kids out in the backyard at 6 a.m. so they can practice their new metal songs on drums for the entire neighborhood to hear, I think it’s fair for us to assume that by 8 a.m., you know you’re not getting a fully quiet world for your sleep anymore. It’s not your neighbors’ responsibility to make sure you’re never disturbed inside your home — at some point, you have to be the proactive one.
(I guess by texting your neighbors and telling their kids to cut it out.)
We all talk about wanting kids to get less screen time and more time outside, and a basketball dribbling around someone’s driveway at 9 a.m. feels like an OK trade for that. Maybe we’ve just gotten a little too comfortable treating normal childhood noise like a nuisance?
“Sun’s out guns out, man. Anyone who tells a kid not to play outside should go check into a facility,” one commenter wrote. And that gets a co-sign from me.
