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Many parents would probably consider it a good thing if their kids would rather play outside than sit inside staring at screens.
That’s the case in today’s story, but a neighbor in the apartment building where they live is not okay with the noise.
Now one mother is wondering if she’s wrong for letting her kids play outside.
Let’s read all the details.
I currently live in an apartment with my twin sons who are almost 12.
Things are usually pretty quiet in my apartment, unless they get a little overexcited, but that’s not overly common.
My boyfriend has also 3 kids between the ages of 8-12, and they come over a few days a week.
Things get rowdy sometimes, as is to be expected with 5 kids under 13, but we try to keep it to a minimum because of neighbors.
The kids want to play outside.
Now that it’s finally starting to get nice out in Michigan, and after being cooped up so much over the winter, they’ve been wanting to go outside more.
Which is GREAT because it’s better than them being in front of screens so much.
They mostly play tag or hide and seek, or ride around on their scooters or skateboards.
Typical kid stuff.
The things that people are constantly complaining about kids not doing anymore.
She thought the kids were being respectful of other people.
They know not to play right next to the building, or on other people’s patios, or anything like that.
Normally everyone is quiet by 9:30, though.
Well, this morning at 6 am I was taking my kids out to the bus and I noticed a letter (one page, front and back full) from my neighbor.
It was a whole angry tirade about us being disrespectful and keeping her awake.
She tries to keep the kids quiet when it’s quiet time.
I was always under the impression that quiet time started at 10, and I made sure to have them quiet after this time.
There was one noise slightly after 10, but I immediately corrected it, and everyone headed out a little after that.
I’ve also given her my phone number so she can let me know if things are getting too noisy, and I’ll put a stop to it, but I never heard anything from her (either by text or in person) from her last night.
The neighbor complained about a lot of things.
This letter was…a lot.
Apparently she gets up between 4 and 5, and seemingly expects silence after 8pm.
There was a lot of questioning about my parenting and “lack of common sense.”
The 10 minutes where I had to run inside to grab something also means I don’t ever supervise my children, but this is a safe area and they were fine.
The neighbor seems to think that her ability to sleep is more important than the kids’ ability to play.
She mentioned that I live in an apartment, and not my own personal home, so I need to have everyone inside by 8pm so she can sleep.
Her unit is in the front of the building, right by entrance doors, and I totally get needing to sleep, but with it staying light outside later now this seems like a crazy expectation.
She said she also reported us to management, but I reached out to them as well to further explain the situation.
She’s wondering if she’s doing anything wrong.
So, long story short, AITAH for letting my kids play outside and have fun?
I do genuinely try to make sure everyone stays as quiet as possible, and routinely tell them to be respectful of others since we’re not the only ones living here, but isn’t noise before 10pm kind of expected in an apartment?
The neighbor is ridiculous to expect silence at 8pm. She needs to get some earplugs or something.
Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.
The kids are probably louder than she realizes.
This person thinks there’s more to the story.
It’s a good idea to pipe down after 8pm.
If they can afford it, they need to move to a house.
This person thinks the neighbor has probably put up with a lot.
Time to play the quiet game.
Or move.
If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.
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