Dear Erica,
I am sorry that you feel we are disturbing your peace, but I need you to understand our position. First of all, we have 2 kids. I am not denying the fact that they can be loud…that we can be loud. But, the drawback to living in an apartment is dealing with your neighbors and accepting a bit of noise. In our last apartment, we had incredibly noisy neighbors who kept our kids awake until 10:30 or 11:00 pm every night. I NEVER called on them…why not? Because it’s an apartment complex and it comes with the territory. 2 weeks ago, we were kept awake until 1:00 am because of our neighbors. Did we call? No. Why? It was a Saturday night, and it’s an apartment. We just got over it.
That all being said, all 3 times you have complained have been between the hours of 5:00 pm and 6:00 pm…reasonable hours for kids to be playing, don’t you think? The last 2 times (Thursday and Friday) you complained about us, my kids were not doing anything loud. On Thursday, my son was playing on the computer and my daughter was playing quietly in her room. Of course, when you knocked on the door, all hell broke loose because the dog started barking and the kids wanted to know who was at the door. I apologized to keep the peace between us, but today was a different story all together. Today, at 5:00 pm or so, I received a phone call from David telling me that you complained…again. Erica, at 5:00 pm, my kids had JUST woken up from a nap, and were sitting down to dinner. I do not know what activity could possibly be quieter than napping. The only sounds in my apartment at that time were the laundry and dishwasher. If that bothers you, than I’m sorry, but you are going to have to deal with it. I’m not going to rearrange my life to insure complete silence at 5:00 or 6:00 pm. I mean, I could totally understand it if it was midnight and my kids were jumping off their bunk beds, or I was playing loud music, but that’s not the case. We were engaging in normal activities at normal times.
While we are on the subject, I am astonished that you would even complain. I mean, whenever you are watching tv, I am forced to shut all my windows and turn on the air conditioner (which I try very hard not to use) just so I don’t have to listen to the news and talk shows you watch….I know what you are watching because I can hear every word. And have I complained, Erica? Nope. Not until today, when David told me you had called again. Then I told him. Not for revenge, by any means, because that is not me. No, not for revenge, but I told him because I was hurt and angry and just at my wits end.
Now, I’m not unreasonable, Erica. Obviously, if you work midnights or you are ill or something, just let me know and I will do what I can. But I am not going to make my kids tiptoe around the apartment, and I’m certainly not going to leave my home just to give you some peace. It is our home, and I have kids. That’s the bottom line. I do try to keep excessive noise to a minimum, but kids will be kids. What I will promise you is that I will continue having conversations with my children regarding using their inside voices and not running and jumping in the house. These are normal conversations in my house, and they will continue. I also promise that we will abide by standard noise ordinances which prohibit excessive noise between 10:00 pm and 7:00 am, according to the leasing office.
I do feel that I need to let you know that I will be having a birthday party for my daughter in a few weeks. Now, the majority of the party will likely be down at the pool, but there will be times when five to ten 7 year old girls will be in my apartment. You are welcome to come and join the festivities, but if not, I would very much appreciate it if you didn’t call David to complain. I’m giving you more than adequate notice (considering no notice is actually necessary), and I feel I’m being more than fair.
I do not want to live in a situation where I am at constant odds with my neighbors. That is an unhealthy situation for anyone. If you wish to have a friendly, neighborly discussion regarding these matters, I would welcome that. I’m writing now only because I want to make sure everything I need to say gets said, and because it’s after 10:00 pm.
Again, if you want to talk this through, by all means, come on up
Two Working Parents 
… And FURTHERMORE….!!