A woman has started a debate after writing a note complaining about “frightening” behaviour from the children of her upstairs neighbours. She has reportedly heard them “screeching, yelling and crying” in the apartment complex.
The woman has lived on the ground floor of the building with her husband for four years. However, things changed when a family with two young children moved into the area right above them. According to a post on Reddit, the children have been constantly running and jumping around the apartment in what the woman describes as “disruptive and sometimes frightening” behaviour.
As reported by GB News, she said in a post on the platform: “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 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 took action by writing a letter to her neighbours. She requested that the young family stopped causing a disturbance and said she will return the toys that had been put on her patio.
The full note reads: “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.
“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.”
Her Reddit post has amassed over 700 comments so far. While she has divided opinion, some users have supported her approach to the situation.
One person said: “Your note is extremely polite and understanding.” The user also added that good neighbours would try to understand the situation and be accomodating.
However, some people have questioned her use of “frightening”. They suggested she reconsidered certain word choices to describe the impact of the noise.
One Reddit user wrote: “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.”
“‘Startling’ might be better than ‘frightening’,” a second wrote. A third put: “Perfectly polite, but I doubt it’ll change anything. Kids are gonna yell and scream.”
