STFU: Neighbors Edition

germanpickle · August 2013

We live in a townhouse with a small but decent sized yard. The vast majority of our neighbours are easy-doing but in the past three months we've had two neighbours complain that our 2-year-old son is "too loud". Once it was because he rides a little car that makes a "clack clack" sound and the second time was because he was calling "mommy! papa!" from two houses down. Not screaming, not flipping out: calling our names.

This morning my 2-year-old son was outside playing around 7:30am. He was riding his little bike around and got excited about seeing a snail. Otherwise, he was just playing like a normal 2-year-old: no flip outs, no screaming, no loud toys. Then around 10:30am another neighbour - this one a mother herself - came up to my husband and complained that our child was outside at 7am on a Sunday because "people want to sleep on Sundays." My husband told her in no uncertain terms that our child will continue to play outside in our yard; that we already pay attention that the louder toys are unavailable in the earlier morning hours (like the clack clack car mentioned above); and - when she brought up the legal aspect - that the law is absolutely on our side.

She then suggested that we keep our child inside until 'everyone' is awake. Because that is "fair". Um, "fair" to whom? And, yeah, bitches, NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

I would love to sleep in on Sundays too - I get it - but I want to pity these people who think that children's laughter is annoying and that children should be seen and not heard but right now I'm just too pissed off.

What stupid neighbor shit do you have to put up with?

Weljadraak · August 2013

I live in a townhouse as well and I know how it can be living attached to others. Where I live, there is someone who cannot make their garbage inside of the dumpster. This happens on a weekly basis and for some reason there are always chicken bones.....

Reasonable noise is something that doesn't bother me, so I can't relate to your neighbor. 7:30 AM is kind of early, but it sounds like he was just quietly playing and the occasional squeal from a small child isn't noisier than say traffic or birds talking. Good luck with your situation.

KimCousino · August 2013

We live on a dead end street with 5 houses last night there had to have been six or seven cars coming in an out past midnight. Now, I don't know if it was one of our neighbors but it was still annoying!

Our biggest complaint is our hoarder neighbor! He literally has shit pouring out of his very small lot into our driveway. His lot is probably 50x50 and is filled with two trailers of junk, a barn, a dog kennell, a pop up trailer (DH and I think the town slut is living in) a boat, broken car on a trailer, and every other thing you can think of. We have filed blight on this guy a couple times but nothing has happened!!

We plan on selling our house in a few years for a bigger one & we know his house will be a huge issue when we do sell!

ballygirl · August 2013

Our neighbors across the street only have one car and are frequently getting rides to work rom someone who will sit in their car outside and honk until they come out. This can happen at any hour of the day - most recently 4AM. It is so not ok to sit an honk your horn repeatedly outside my house at 4AM!

amber0529 · August 2013

My neighbors also have a junk yard but it's full of old appliances just piled up and a boat and a old car. Plus they have 4 sheds filled with crap. There are 4 kids and at least 3 adults in what can't be more than a 3 bedroom trailer. We wanted to put up a privacy fence because they're not friendly and we don't want to look at their junk and they threw a fit about it...

Weljadraak · August 2013

ballygirl said:

Our neighbors across the street only have one car and are frequently getting rides to work rom someone who will sit in their car outside and honk until they come out. This can happen at any hour of the day - most recently 4AM. It is so not ok to sit an honk your horn repeatedly outside my house at 4AM!

Pet peeve! Why doesn't anybody knock the door anymore? I think you may need to intervene on this one, lol.

Patricehall78 · August 2013

We have two teenagers who come home anywhere between 10 pm and 3 am with a booming bass going on. We've called the PD multiple times and the kids told the PD that it's a "stock" radio. Sure, that's why we can hear it all the way in the back of the house with the windows closed and the air on. I told the cop "pu-lease" you can't possibly believe its a stock radio. I don't know where these kids' mother is. I assume she works thirds. They also have a lawn and snow service which pisses me off. Hey lady! You have two teenage boys, put their asses to work!

lovelittlebean · August 2013

My husband found a used syringe next to our mailbox. No idea where it came from. So classy.

Weljadraak · August 2013

dknight413 said: If she doesn't like the noise of a neighbor's child playing outside, tell her to go live on a farm. She sounds like an idiot. Eta: my stupid neighbor shit? Not much. When we moved into our current apartment, our neighbor used to bawl her eyes out every night for hours. We didn't say anything but we moved our bed into the living room at one point. Also the chick upstairs once thought she was a pornstar. I did say something about that. Hasn't happened since. Thank god.

me and my bfs first apartment had paper thin walls. i literally heard the guy next door sneeze and his end of phone conversations. the point is, I know they've had to of heard us go at it. i'm sure you made her super uncomfortable lolol

edited because the quote didn't quote right

yesthisiskim0401 · August 2013

Cunt punt to your neighbor! WTF.

My neighborhood is mixed of old retiree's and young, new families. The old people make it a point to hate on the young families. The day after Halloween my landlord got a letter from the HOA saying we had trash all over our front yard. He freaked, drove over here, and saw we had our Halloween decorations out (2 light up pumpkins, spiders hanging from the trees - basic shit). When he asked our next door neighbor about it she flipped her lid on him saying we are trashy people and "this isn't the neighborhood for that". He told her to fuck off and was completely on our side. She also complained about our Christmas lights staying on too late at night. They were never on past 9:30.

bkeane619 · August 2013

I think 7:30 IS a little early. I had people working on my roof and every once in a while they started working at 7:45 during the week and I would cringe. If I lived in a tight quarters situation I would have made them wait as well as if my kid was playing outside. He's usually not even up at 7:30 thank goodness! I think 8am is fair game though, any day of the week.

Weljadraak · August 2013

babysteps23 said:

Then we have another neighbor whos dog comes over to our yard atleast once a day and scares the crap out of my son. The thing jumps like crazy and its getting really annoying. He is all apologetic every time and its like...omg train your dog. (Its less than a yr old).

That's not something to mess around with. It doesn't seem like you are the type, but there are people out there who do not take kindly to dogs (no matter how young or cute they are). I hope they learn to control their dog before the dog gets blamed for something or the owners get punished for something seemingly harmless.

Lol, after writing that I can relate it to OP.. some people don't take kindly to children, either!

norbert5 · August 2013

DH and I have decided we are doomed to always have terrible neighbors.

In our first place DH and I had a pothead on one side and a nut job on the other side. Our house stunk like pot so bad when he would dry his pot we went over to let him know. He got super defensive. We didn't care about the pot we just didn't want our house to smell like it.

The nut job neighbor was awful. I ended up calling CPS on him multiple times. When he moved out he had taken then entire kitchen outside and had duct tape everything shut.

Our current neighbor is crazy he is going in and out of a incredibly noisy screen door at all hours. Squeak, slam, squeak, slam, then the motion light comes on and shines directly in my window. He always wants to do things in our yard. Trim our bushes, mow our grass, etc. It is so irritating because we prefer a slightly less manicured more natural look and he prefers trimming everything into super manicured squares.

If my kid was out at 7:30 am and they complained I would openly laugh at them since they usually wake me up by 6. To keep the peace with your neighbor I would compromise at 8 because I have neighbor situations escalate badly.

Kittymom6 · August 2013

I'd be pissed about being woken up at 7:30 on a Sunday, too, whether it's a child, a lawn mower or a barking dog! I like to sleep!

My neighbors have pornstar sex, too. I'd be way too embarrassed to say anything, but sometimes I think about slipping a note under the door. I'm passive aggressive like that!

tmccord21 · August 2013

Yesterday was the 1st day I experienced annoying kids. From about 6pm to 11pm they were screaming. This little boy was so god damn annoying and loud I actually said that our son better not be that fucking annoying. I couldn't see them but by the sounds of it they had to be somewhere between 7-10yrs old. I understand kids go through that phase where they are just pain in the asses but those parents should have told them to tone it down. Like blood curdling screams. I don't even know where these kids came from. They don't live there.

Then at 3AM a kid was bouncing a ball in the yard next to us. (different yard) I had to close all my windows. I'm pretty sure he was bouncing it against the side of my building cause I could still hear/feel it after I did that. This kid is probably 6yrs old....

Brookej610 · August 2013

My biggest neighbor complaint? People refuse to park in their driveways, making it an obstacle course for me to get to my driveway.

As far as your neighbors- I dont understand how they were woke up by him riding his bike or even getting excited by the snail. Next time, give him a pot and a wooden spoon and tell him to go outside and have a parade. LOL. Glad your DH stood his ground!!

KevsLove · August 2013

babysteps23 said:

OMG This is LAUGHABLE. Is that neighbor serious?! Put him out at 5am next Sunday, what a b-i. Ridiculous. I have one neighbor who has these bonfires and uses like gas in them for some reason. And everytime he throws the gas on I think it is my son falling out of bed. It sounds EXACTLY like it. Although, this is funny, not annoying. He always txts me and my husband and says "he's fine". lol

Then we have another neighbor whos dog comes over to our yard atleast once a day and scares the crap out of my son. The thing jumps like crazy and its getting really annoying. He is all apologetic every time and its like...omg train your dog. (Its less than a yr old).

We used to live in my inlaws guest house. We bought and built a house on the land next door. The reason is the CRAZY neighbor chased me and my mom with an ax telling us we were walking on his property. Well we looked it up. It wasn't his property. And now, we own it. HAAA!

THIS!!! Our neighbors have about 5 dogs that they release into their yard and let them go crazy,barking and chasing each other. For the most part I can deal with the barking but on more then one occasion if they saw us (me and DD or DH and DD) they would go insane, and jump into out yard barking as we scrambled into our car. Scared DD half to death and pissed me off royally. I finally waited till I knew they were out and approached my car while holding the hose. When they jumped into my yard I sprayed them full out in the faces. Haven't seen them since.

Jenball717 · August 2013

crunchymama11 said:
I kinda agree with your neighbor. 7:30 on a Sunday morning is really early. I would be annoyed, too. I realize that you are awake with him and it doesn't bother you. But it obviously bothers your neighbors. For the sake of keeping peace with your neighbors, I would limit his outside time that early on the weekends.

And since this is now your 3rd neighbor complaint about your kid being loud, maybe there is something to it that you don't see because you're his mother. I mean- I get it. DD does stuff that I have learned to tune out that other people haven't. That's how us moms keep our sanity

Yup. Just because you adore your kid doesn't mean everyone else does. And I think encouraging loud behavior as some pp's have suggested would only create more problems. Is it so hard to keep him inside until after 8am?

HFrizzle · August 2013

We live in your standard neighborhood. Our neighbors to one side of us and directly across the street are all related...like a one tree branch kind of family...they are constantly fighting...like standing in their respective yards screaming at each other or on the phones to each other from their front porches. The cops are always being called by one of them on another of them, we've had cps & social workers are out constantly. The kids are complete a holes. Last week I had the house opened up early so we could enjoy the nice cool breeze before it got hot and I sat and listened to the little girl, maybe 6 or 7, screaming at the top of her lungs for about a half an hour. I went out back several times and told her to go inside because no one wanted to listen to her. Then I hear the parents out front yelling at her (she's in the back yard). I walk out on to our pitch very aggressively opening the door then standing their looking at them. I was pissed. The mom is just yelling at her to be quiet before I come out and yell at her again. I looked at her and was like seriously? Take care of your kid cause I don't want to hear it. All she had to say was the little girl was in a mood right now and she couldn't control her. I walked inside and slammed the door. Next thing I know two different social workers show up, chew the parents out cause of all the complaints they have gotten lately and get the little girl inside and get her calmed down. I think they just happened to show up to check in on them, but got a first hand experience of the crap that all their neighbors have to deal with. I wish I had their card, cause I would call them daily. I wish they would step in and do something for the kids sake. These
people are crazy!!

germanpickle · August 2013

Jenball717 said:

I kinda agree with your neighbor. 7:30 on a Sunday morning is really early. I would be annoyed, too. I realize that you are awake with him and it doesn't bother you. But it obviously bothers your neighbors. For the sake of keeping peace with your neighbors, I would limit his outside time that early on the weekends.

And since this is now your 3rd neighbor complaint about your kid being loud, maybe there is something to it that you don't see because you're his mother. I mean- I get it. DD does stuff that I have learned to tune out that other people haven't. That's how us moms keep our sanity
Yup. Just because you adore your kid doesn't mean everyone else does. And I think encouraging loud behavior as some pp's have suggested would only create more problems. Is it so hard to keep him inside until after 8am?

I see where you guys are coming from. I should have added the story about one of the same neighbors complaining about the 6 year old girl a few houses down READING on her front porch. Um, yeah, right. These people are just pissy.

taylormarie923 · August 2013

Ugh this is why we moved out to the country. No neighbor problems ever again.

When we lived in the city we had a neighbor that lived above us and had late night techno dance parties until 3 am. He was a douche and a half. I knew he slept during the day so I would blast music during the day time.

pinkdaisy823 · August 2013

These stories are making me feel better about our neighbor situation. We live in a condo building and our downstairs neighbor smokes like a chimney, it seems, only when we have all our windows open. It wafts up and fills the entire house so we have to close the windows and use the air, even if it's a perfect temperature outside.

He also decided last Sunday night to start throwing fireworks off of his balcony at 10:30 pm. The kind that sound like 30 gunshots in a row. Scared us to death and after the second time, my husband went out there and yelled at him. I'm so glad my son didn't wake up or I would have been even more pissed than I already was. The worst part is that he did this last month in the evening (lit off about 6 before we figured out where it was coming from) and we yelled at him then too. You think it's going to be okay this time?! Also, he's about 40. Ug!

Brookej610 · August 2013

HFrizzle said:
We live in your standard neighborhood. Our neighbors to one side of us and directly across the street are all related...like a one tree branch kind of family...they are constantly fighting...like standing in their respective yards screaming at each other or on the phones to each other from their front porches. The cops are always being called by one of them on another of them, we've had cps & social workers are out constantly. The kids are complete a holes. Last week I had the house opened up early so we could enjoy the nice cool breeze before it got hot and I sat and listened to the little girl, maybe 6 or 7, screaming at the top of her lungs for about a half an hour. I went out back several times and told her to go inside because no one wanted to listen to her. Then I hear the parents out front yelling at her (she's in the back yard). I walk out on to our pitch very aggressively opening the door then standing their looking at them. I was pissed. The mom is just yelling at her to be quiet before I come out and yell at her again. I looked at her and was like seriously? Take care of your kid cause I don't want to hear it. All she had to say was the little girl was in a mood right now and she couldn't control her. I walked inside and slammed the door. Next thing I know two different social workers show up, chew the parents out cause of all the complaints they have gotten lately and get the little girl inside and get her calmed down. I think they just happened to show up to check in on them, but got a first hand experience of the crap that all their neighbors have to deal with. I wish I had their card, cause I would call them daily. I wish they would step in and do something for the kids sake. These
people are crazy!!

Brookej610 · August 2013

Crap! Sorry, kitty bit me & I hit 'reply' on accident, lol! You should record your neighbors, sounds like a reality show hit!! That is all, lol!

Brookej610 · August 2013

Jenball717 said:

crunchymama11 said:
I kinda agree with your neighbor. 7:30 on a Sunday morning is really early. I would be annoyed, too. I realize that you are awake with him and it doesn't bother you. But it obviously bothers your neighbors. For the sake of keeping peace with your neighbors, I would limit his outside time that early on the weekends.

And since this is now your 3rd neighbor complaint about your kid being loud, maybe there is something to it that you don't see because you're his mother. I mean- I get it. DD does stuff that I have learned to tune out that other people haven't. That's how us moms keep our sanity
Yup. Just because you adore your kid doesn't mean everyone else does. And I think encouraging loud behavior as some pp's have suggested would only create more problems. Is it so hard to keep him inside until after 8am?

I was joking about the 'parade' thing. My point was that a child riding their bike shouldn't be such a big deal. When you live in a neighborhood a certain degree of noise is to be expected. How loud could the kid be? And, it's unrealistic to think everyone in a neighborhood/community will be on the same sleep schedule. Ever! My neighbor across the street works third shift and likes to work on his junky motorcycle when he gets home. I've learned to block it out. Adults should pick and choose their battles. I deft don't want my children thinking the appropriate thing to do is raise hell every time something bothers them.

xkittyxbearx · August 2013

pretty stupid, I don't know the laws there but here we can make as much noise between 6 or 7am until 11pm that we choose and if anyone had anything to say about it I'd tell them where to stick it. Some people like to sleep in until the afternoon does that mean your kid has to be stuck inside all day? I think not.

HFrizzle · August 2013

Brookej610 said:
Crap! Sorry, kitty bit me & I hit 'reply' on accident, lol! You should record your neighbors, sounds like a reality show hit!! That is all, lol!

Oh we have!! LoL

edaire · August 2013

Wow. I'm really thankful for our house right now. We live in the country on an acre of land. Both of our next door neighbors on either side of us are nurses. They both work the night shift so we never see them. No houses behind us just fields. Lucky us. It's quiet.

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