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Original poster

grumpy neighbour and noisy boys.

13 replies

jwud · 04/02/2007 08:01

A divorced man has recently moved in next door to us. Yesterday he sent a note complaining about the noise that my 2 boys(6 and 9) make.They are noisy, but it's mostly rough and tumble play. Now we're having to shush them all the time. We're not sure how to deal with this!

OP posts:
sunshinestarr · 04/02/2007 08:04

hmmm u could try setting him up with someone so he's too preoccupied doing other stuff..lol

colditz · 04/02/2007 08:05

Don't shush them. Ignore the note if you think it's unreasonable.

Out of interest, how loud are they?

nearlyfourbob · 04/02/2007 08:12

Indoor or outdoor noise? Does neighbour have children he now doesn't see? (ie is this more about him than your boys) What sort of house/flat?

auntymandy · 04/02/2007 08:13

I would go and see him. say you will try and keep them quiet before 7am and after 9pm.!!!
Does he work shifts?

Original poster
jwud · 04/02/2007 08:20

We will go to see him and try to remain neighbourly. He has a 6 year old girl who stays every other weekend. We can hear her quite clearly, so the party walls must be really thin. My boys are noisy, they do quite a bit of screamimg and shouting nad argue over stuff. We were going to add an extension over summer, but now we think we might move to a detached house!

OP posts:
sunshinestarr · 04/02/2007 08:24

who knows you's all might even become friends

Troutpout · 04/02/2007 08:25

Remind them to be quiet a bit if it's very early..i would say before 8am or something. But i wouldn't go overboard tbh.
I'd knock on the door and find out if he works shifts.... daytime noise is a bit trickier . Also he will be able see you've acknowledged his complaint and are 'working' on it.

Troutpout · 04/02/2007 08:28

Also...i'd mention that sometimes you can hear the girl too...
As in a 'oh yes i know these walls are so thin...i sometimes hear your daughter too' It just may make him think a little...if he realises that it's a 2 way thing and that it's not just your boys being unnaturally noisy.

Original poster
jwud · 04/02/2007 08:37

He actually wrote on the note that he sent that we could probably hear his daughter but in a 'so I can hear everything and it's driving me mad!' kind of way! He's always been really friendly before, saying hello etc. My boys have even played with his daughter. I don't think that he works shifts, I'm pretty sure he's 9 to 5. He's always in at weekends during the day and I hear no noise at all when his daughter isn't there, not even a TV!

OP posts:
Freckle · 04/02/2007 08:45

I think you just have to explain to him that they are children and it is unreasonable to expect them to be quiet. Say you appreciate that the walls are fairly thin and will ask the boys to keep the noise down at certain times, but that, unfortunately, kids will be kids!

Presumably he knew that there were children next door when he moved in and, as the father of a 6 yo himself, he must appreciate that children make a noise. Although if he's only got one girl, he might not appreciate just how much two boys can make!

Where we last lived, we had wonderful neighbours, until the adult daughter next door (the side we were attached to) married an American she'd met over the internet (irrelevant but intereting!). He moved in and we then had constant complaints about noise from him. He came round one Saturday morning at about 8.45am in his dressing gown demanding that dh dealt with 3 yo DS3's tantrum so that he didn't make any noise (I was out or there might have been physical damage at this point). We did move and it was bliss to move in next door to people who told us that they love to hear children .

Original poster
jwud · 04/02/2007 08:58

My boys were being particularly rowdy yesterday as their swimming lesson was cancelled and my 6 year old had a very long and loud tantrum due to my not letting him on the ps2 instead!I think I'll try keeping tham quiet before 7.00a.m and after 7.00p.m as suggested(good advice -thanks!)

OP posts:
WanderingTrolley · 04/02/2007 09:40

Hearing your boys reminds him of his daughter, who he can't be with all the time.

You don't need to shush your boys - people who want total silence constantly are better off living in detached homes in the middle of a huge field wearing ear plugs.

Even though fields can't wear ear plugs....

Ahem. Anyway, I would keep it friendly, kids are noisy, you can't gag them. Never a bad plan to encourage calm peacefulness in the hour before bedtime, though.

speedymama · 05/02/2007 09:03

I sympathise. We have DTS who are nearly 3 and our neighbours bang on the wall if they start crying/screeching first thing in the morning. I would not mind, but these idiots have 5 kids of their own, (including 3 boys) age 6 to 14 and the noise they make is like the sound of galloping elephants. We have never complained, even when the younger ones were crying as toddlers.

They are really inconsiderate and seem to have forgotten that toddlers make noise. Recently, because of the poor weather, their boys have been playing basket ball inside the house. Can you imagine what that sounds like? Anyway we plan to move to a detached house within the next 2 years and I'm hoping that the buyers will have about 5 boys all under the age of 5. That'll teach them!

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