A woman has sparked a heated debate over a ‘polite’ yet ‘dramatic’ handwritten note she penned for her ‘noisy’ upstairs neighbours who recently moved in with two young kids in tow.
The woman and her husband have lived on the ground floor of the apartment complex for more than four years.
Things started to change when a new family moved into the unit on the second floor above them, with the kids ‘screeching, yelling and crying’.
However, the woman took particular issue with the ‘disruptive and sometimes frightening’ youngsters, who were constantly running and jumping, causing her ceilings and thin walls to shake.
She decided to write a letter to her neighbours, and return the toys she found on her patio after they were thrown from their balcony during playtime.
‘Is this an okay note to leave for the noisy upstairs neighbours?’ she asked the internet in a Reddit thread.
The note in question goes: ‘Hi neighbours, welcome to the apartment complex. We live below you and think your kids’ toys keep falling off the balcony and the landscapers put them on our patio thinking they are ours, so we wanted to return them to you.
‘We were also hoping that you could please try to keep the kids’ running and jumping indoors to a minimum, especially in the mornings.
A woman has sparked a heated debate over a ‘polite’ handwritten note she penned for her ‘noisy’ upstairs neighbours who recently moved in with two young kids in tow
‘We know little ones have a lot of energy and unfortunately the floors and ceilings of these apartments are almost as thin as the walls, but the running and jumping shakes our ceiling and walls a lot and is very disruptive and sometimes frightening. We’d really appreciate it.
‘We’ll keep an eye out for any more toys and bring them back as we can 🙂 Thanks so much, your downstairs neighbours.’
She hasn’t plucked the courage to leave the note at her neighbour’s front door just yet, but wanted to gauge everyone’s thoughts on how to handle the situation.
‘I know it’s an inherent risk in first floor units that you’ll hear noise from above, but the kids run and jump indoors almost all day and into the evening,’ she said.
‘We can deal with their screech, yells and crying but our ceiling and walls shake with how loud and hard the kids run and jump around their apartment all day and it’s very disruptive and jarring.
‘They also throw their toys off the their balcony where they also play. I’m glad they get to play outside on the balcony but the landscapers think the toys that appear outside our unit belong to us and put them on our patio when the grass gets mowed.’
The woman explained that she ‘didn’t expect anything to change’ but she just wanted to ‘politely bring awareness to the issue’.
‘If the parents choose to address it, we’ll appreciate it immensely,’ she said.
‘We don’t mind the yelling and screaming and crying, those are things that kids can’t control because they don’t have control of their emotions which we totally understand. We wear earplugs at night and throw headphones on for that reason.’
The woman, believed to be a renter, said she’s considering asking management to move to her to an upper-level apartment as soon as one becomes available.
‘We actually love living here so hopefully they can accommodate us because we don’t want to and can’t leave anyway,’ she said.
‘We’re maybe financially in a position that we can take a more expensive unit, even. But otherwise, we are stuck here.’
Her post was met with more than 700 comments – with many suggesting they thought there was nothing wrong with the woman’s letter.
‘Perfectly polite but I doubt it’ll change anything. Kids are gonna yell and scream,’ one said.
‘Your note is extremely polite and understanding. I know that with apartment living, you have to expect some level of noise, but if your neighbours are decent people, they’ll make an effort to be accommodating. For example, my upstairs neighbors have a shared space they use a lot, and every now and then when it gets too loud, I’ll gently knock on the ceiling – and it usually quiets down right away,’ another shared.
Some people suggested she rethink some of her wording – particularly the word ‘frightening’.
‘Especially the word “frightening”. As a parent, it is a VERY loaded word… It’s one thing to be mindful of your neighbours, and it’s another thing to be terrified of them,’ one said
‘”Startling” might be better than “frightening”?’ one shared.
However, many defended the woman’s letter, with one saying: ‘But what if it actually is frightening? I’ve had upstairs neighbour’s kids knock my mounted photos off the wall and scare the bajesus out of me at 7pm before they slammed and jumped around so hard. I’m not sure there’s a better word than what it actually is sometimes.’
Meanwhile, one person recounted their own experience of attempting to ‘respectfully approach’ a situation with a disruptive neighbour.
‘In my experience a polite note didn’t work well, and a polite personal follow up visit, was even worse,’ one shared.
‘I really doubt people are unaware that they are making noise and causing vibrations (as it also happens in my building), they know and don’t care so any politeness is futile in my experience, sadly.
‘People love to claim “community” but are so entitled and have individualistic rotten mentality. Currently living with three college kids above me that share a two bedroom apartment. New to renting, I’m sure and very unaware that 2:30am is not a normal time to work out and constantly drop dumbbells on my ceiling.’
