Wednesday, June 28, 2006

The screaming, it could force me to go over the edge

This morning all was quiet in the nieghbor's yard. Nothing, not a sound. I didn't see any children, any adults, anyone. I was tempted to run around in my yard, the alley, and the street screaming at the top of my lungs, but I didn't. When Back Seat Girl and I came back from the park, I rejoiced at how quiet and peaceful it still was. This was how the nieghborhood was when we moved to it. I made lunch without the racket of screaming girls and shouting boys. I started wondering if, maybe, just maybe, they were actually all gone somewhere. Like on vacation or something. Oh, wouldn't that be great? Maybe it would be quiet for a couple of DAYS!

I laid Back Seat Girl down for a nap, and, like I usually do when it's nice out, left her windows open a crack. I cleaned up after lunch, and in the back of my head I thought "now it is when it will start". I sat down in my nice quiet living room to fold some laundry, with the windows open and everything, and that's when I heard it. The house next door came alive. Hundreds of children spilled out of it onto the yard, congregating around Back Seat Baby's window. The little girl with the piercing scream, she was there. I wonder what she would sound like if she was every really in danger. I had dreams of maybe taking a nap myself to catch up on some sleep, but that would be impossible now.

Finally, I'd had enough. I went outside to the back yard where the little girls were screaming and I poked my head through the bushes and I said, while pointing at one of Back Seat Baby's windows "Do you see that window right there? That's my baby's room. She is sleeping right now. She needs to sleep for a while longer, so could you please stop screaming for a while?" They looked at me solemnly and said OK. But I couldn't really tell that the noice level diminished at all after that. About 5 minutes after I came back in, Back Seat Girl was awake. Both days we've been home this week, she's been woken up from her nap. She was so tired and cranky before bed last night, it was not fun. I am at the end of my rope. The noise has gotten worse this last week, I know it. I understand kids will be kids, and I don't expect them to be quiet. It's just the constant, shouting, screaming, running around...all of it right outside of Back Seat Girl's windows. It may not start early, but it goes later into the night than it should. And this is Richfield, people, we live on top of each other here. If you need to scream and shout at the top of your lungs go to the park.

I may be hormonal and sleep deprived, but this is getting ridiculous. Perhaps tonight when Back Seat Girl gets really cranky and over-tired, I'll just drop her off over there and let them take care of her. They'd probably just let her run around and scream in the yard with no adult supervision.

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