Feeling annoyed

I do have a child (now an adult), but I get where you are coming from. I live in a cul-de-sac too, and currently as there is only one household with a child, the only time when the sound of children playing is an issue is when he has friends visiting.

When my son was a child, he would often play outside with some children who lived nearby, more so during the summer months. Sometimes I had no difficulty tolerating the noise they made, but there were occasions when it really grated on my nerves.

I think girls can be the worst, especially when they start shrieking excitedly. The tone and pitch of it just goes right through me, similar to fingernails being scraped across a chalkboard.

If there are things you need/want to do that produce noise (vacuuming, mowing the lawn, etc), perhaps you could do those things when you hear the children playing to drown out their noise. However, as you mention you are very sensitive to noise, I can see that this could be a problem for you.

The only alternative solution I can think of is to maybe put on a pair of ear defenders, or else listen to calming music through a pair of headphones.

I do have a child (now an adult), but I get where you are coming from. I live in a cul-de-sac too, and currently as there is only one household with a child, the only time when the sound of children playing is an issue is when he has friends visiting.

When my son was a child, he would often play outside with some children who lived nearby, more so during the summer months. Sometimes I had no difficulty tolerating the noise they made, but there were occasions when it really grated on my nerves.

I think girls can be the worst, especially when they start shrieking excitedly. The tone and pitch of it just goes right through me, similar to fingernails being scraped across a chalkboard.

If there are things you need/want to do that produce noise (vacuuming, mowing the lawn, etc), perhaps you could do those things when you hear the children playing to drown out their noise. However, as you mention you are very sensitive to noise, I can see that this could be a problem for you.

The only alternative solution I can think of is to maybe put on a pair of ear defenders, or else listen to calming music through a pair of headphones.