Stopping to chat with a neighbour on estate, got told to be quiet and leave.

[Stardust35]

Hi, I'm not sure why I'm posting this. Just feel like I've been a really annoying neighbour accidentally.
Just been for a walk after dinner with my partner and dog. We live on a lovely estate. We were just almost back to our house and another couple walking their dog were across the road. Both dogs were wagging their tails and wanted to meet so we crossed the road and the dogs were sniffing and saying hello. We briefly chatted with the couple about their dog and were giving him a fuss etc as we'd not come across them while out walking before. We'd only stopped for a few minutes when a woman whose house we were outside, opened the window and abruptly shouted "can you be quiet I'm trying to get my baby to sleep. Can you go now please". Obviously we apologised and left straight away, but now I feel like an asshole for disturbing her. It was about 7pm and we were having a normal conversation. I understand we were outside her house. Maybe our voices were carrying more than I thought. Maybe she was just exhausted and stressed. Were we being unreasonable?

My neighbour used to have people round during covid and chat to them on her drive.

It was infuriating. It actually felt like they were on my doorstep, chatting.

It was so loud and intrusive.

I would never converse outside someone's house and I know how the noise travels.

We've actually moved now thank fuck.

On the estate I live on the sound really carries up from the road. It’s like living in an amphitheatre.
She asked you to leave and gave you a valid reason and you did a kind thing by going.
Both of you were fine.

I can’t believe you left! She’s completely unreasonable and should have been told to shut her window and mind her own business.

We have some really loud screechy neighbours who start up at ridiculous O'clock at the weekends and it is really annoying but I wouldn't dream of saying anything. I guess she was just stressed and like others have said will realize later how rude she was.

Hope she Doesn’t move into my road then
on an average evening we have
1.motorbike man going up and down on a really noisy bike
2.people slamming car doors / bin lids
3.shouting/ swearing
4.people walking past having loud phone calls 5.
dogs barking / fighting

it’s not quiet

You have done nothing wrong. I think she is just stressed and exhausted and has maybe had a long day counting down the hours until bedtime. She probably feels, or will feel in the future, quite embarrassed about it. She is probably feeling worse than you over it.

She explained why she was asking them to move and said please. Not sure how this equates to having no people skills.

I'm torn on this one - on the face of it she seems very unreasonable and 7pm is not at all late.

However as others have said she may be at the end of her tether - though that's no excuse to be rude to you though

Perhaps you speak too loudly OP? I know that can be grating and very annoying

My only experience of this is early morning joggers/swimmers/cyclists who think that their loud conversations whilst whooshing past your house (less whooshing for swimmers!) are somehow not heard by others - they are and it is extremely annoying!

Do you think you are perhaps a tad too loud?

If she expects total silence when her baby is going to sleep she deserves to be stressed, they need to be aware of the ambiant noise, not talking about heavy metal from next door but a conversation outside? Poor baby!

Haha wtf no this isn’t your problem. I’ve had a young baby who never slept and I admit to feeling murderous whenever anyone rang our doorbell but to actually shout out of a window to be quiet I would have 100% told her to f**k off 😂It is genuinely not your problem that she has a baby that she wants to get to sleep at 7pm. At 11pm, yeah maybe. But 7pm? She’s going to find the world a difficult place if she expects it to revolve around the sleeping patterns of her child!

Ywnbu. But I have done similar when DS was small had just fallen asleep.
Teenagers were having a randan outside. I went out and asked them to be quiet. I didn’t shout (mostly because it would have woken him up)

I get this all the time where I love its very doggy friendly there's more folk with dogs than kids. I always see folk with dogs stopping for chats. In summer if I have windows open it can be hard to get my little one to sleep. However I would never tell anyone to be quiet or go away, that's ridiculous. Having a child doesn't mean everything evolves around you. How very cheeky and rude of them!

You did nothing wrong, you were on a public footpath at a decent time, take no notice, she probably has a baby that doesn't sleep well, 7 o clock is early anyway. X

I am away on holidays and staying in a hotel at the moment. We had a busy morning with long walk, sightseeing etc so l went to our room to have a little rest in the afternoon. Two of the room cleaning staff started a conversation right outside my door..pretty loudly and enthusiastically chatting. I ignored it for about 10 mins but couldn't stick it any longer and opened the door..saying 'Sorry.. l am having a rest" and they moved. They had no idea they were so annoying. If l had been trying to get a baby to sleeping it would have definitely been annoying.

I love it what people chat outside my house but I'm nosey!

I can cope with regular noise. We once lived next to a newspaper printing place, in the Med, windows open in both buidings, they started at 3.30 am six days a week, not Sunday. After a couple of weeks we were used to it and so was our baby when she arrived. However, if it was Bank Holiday Monday and they didn't print, we all woke up!

I think aswell you forget when you’ve got grown up kids that 7pm is bedtime for little ones

Not all little ones, by any means.
People have different lives and timescales. Mine were never asleep by 7

Oh bless! She’s going to be mortified about that one day. I remember feeling murderous towards a motorist who honked his horn while I was trying to walk ds to sleep. Reason goes out the window when you’re sleep deprived. I’d probably drop off some chocolates and a nice card but I’m a bit of a pushover

I walked my 2 week old baby down to the airport and realised that the road was closed, a plane was due in. Panic stations,she'll wake up howling at the noise of a plane landing about 75 yards away! It landed, taxied to the terminal and she never stirred a muscle, phew. The little bell rant to warn that the barrier was going up and she went mad!

I've been that woman. Bedtimes used to stress me out when my kids were small and take ages and repeated efforts to settle. I'd feel really on edge if there was any noise that would wake them. I remember opening my bedroom window and telling kids that were playing outside to go somewhere else.

Don't take it personally.

If it was 2 AM in the morning and you were playing bangers at 2,000 decibels then absolutely no argument she'd well within her rights
However can't expect people to stop living their normal every day lives.
The World hasn't can't and won't stop just because she's had a baby.
That's not being selfish or inconsiderate that's just life.

This sort of thing would have frustrated me massively when my daughter was young because she was an awful sleeper. I don't think you did anything wrong, really. I just think it was one very stressed and frustrated parent. Been there, done that.

I was told by a wise older midwife to make noise so baby learnt to sleep through anything.So I hoovered around him. Cut the grass, took him on the bus, had music playing, TV on. He did and still does his wife tells me sleep through anything bar his own babies strangely enough 😅😅

I would have shouted back 'go f yourself'! She's lucky she got you!

There's no need for arse licking an apology is more than sufficient.