Ugh, our downstairs neighbor wants to come up and talk to the kids about how noisy they are. Apparently they were making so much noise he was banging on the ceiling. By running from room to room, at noon on a Sunday. We try to curtail really wild stuff and really early mornings, but, you know, small children, old house with wood floors. (The neighbors are a childless 30ish couple, and he in particular is a very finicky guy, the sort of guy who is obsessed with the cleanliness of his car. They have not been very friendly. We figured since we go to bed at 8:30 we had to be better neighbors than the 3 20-somthing single dudes who lived here before us!)

Me, too, Ginger. Though at the rate I'm going through CFLs (which is to say, slow) by the time I use up the ones I have i may just splurge on fancy LED bulbs. Assuming I have income at that point.

Good lord, flea. I'm pretty sure noon any day of the week is fair game for any kind of noise.

LEDs and other solid state lighting are the future. They can last practically forever and use just a trickle of electricity.

A lot of buoys and lighthouses are going LED now, as well. They come bundled with a little solar panel and they don't need as much maintenance. The down side is that the light doesn't throw as far, but the benefit seems to outweigh the costs.

Ugh, flea, that's awkward. I see their point, but kids are allowed to be kids, especially in their own home. I can see making an effort not to run maybe early in the morning. But during the day, I don't think you owe them anything.

Also, he can talk to you, but I don't see any reason to subject your kids to that.

All the coverage of Superbowl snacks is making me want nachos or cheese dip or pizza. Something I don't have and don't need, anyway.

Oh yeah, he totally does NOT need to talk to your kids.

I remember the neighbor of my friend Karen complaining about the sounds of her kids laughing. This was in a neighboring house - not sharing walls or floor/ceiling.

"Gee, I'm so sorry my children's laughter is irritating you at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon. I'll quell that immediately! Oh kids! Joy is off the menu today."

I'm reading this to the sounds of the kids running upstairs. It's my landlady and her kids but even so I wouldn't complain about them running around on an afternoon.