It was abundantly clear to me, from the moment that we took possession of our house, that we were going to be the loudest family in the neighbourhood.  We had just gotten off the plane, and the lils were wound up, excited and anxious about all the new things.  Noise in the house was fine, but, as they explored the yard, we had to shush them about forty times. No one else was making any noise.

A year and a half later, most of the time, I let them make the noise. They play outside a lot, so I can either lose my mind shushing them, bring them inside, or let them have their loud fun. It likely would not bother me at all if the ‘hood wasn’t so quiet. We rarely hear anything from any of the houses around us, save for the occasional car door slam, or garbage can being rolled up the laneway. I figure that the neighbours have never outright complained, so it must be tolerable. A couple of them have mentioned that they “hear the lils when they are out.”

This past weekend, I was caught off guard by the annoying noise coming out of our back neighbour’s yard. They have always been super quiet, until Friday, when someone apparently gave their youngest child a whistle. He was going to town on that thing, short blasts, loud blasts, rapid staccato, long warbly notes…  you name it, he was doing it. It was incredibly annoying, but I didn’t say anything; figuring that they have earned a pass.