A mum has blasted her neighbour after he asked her to tell her toddler to "be quiet and stop running around".
The woman took to parenting forum Mumsnet after receiving a knock at the door on Sunday morning from her downstairs neighbour expressing his frustration with the level of noise. Though she admitted that her three-year-old was "running up and down the hallway and laughing", she was nonetheless left "speechless" by the request.
The mum asked for advice from fellow users as she was unsure if she was right to be "absolutely fuming" or whether she was being "unreasonable".
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She wrote: "Hi all. Wondering if I'm BU (being unreasonable) to be hacked off?
"We've literally just had a knock on the door from our downstairs neighbour. We live in a maisonette, we're in the top flat he's on the bottom. He said 'listen, can you tell your kid to be quiet and stop running around?'.
"I am honestly speechless. We have a three year old and a newborn. Yes, she was running up and down the hallway and laughing, but she's three and doesn't understand she needs to be quiet at certain times of day."
She continued: "We've lived her for four years, never had any issues or complaints from other neighbours or the ones who lived below previously. I am absolutely fuming but I don't know if I have a right to be.
"To me, if you live in a shared building you run the risk of hearing noise. And it's not as if we're playing music or running the washing machine. You know, noise you can prevent or limit. Does he expect us to gag and tie up our child?
"Am I BU or is he?"
Before long, dozens of Mumsnet users weighed in with their opinion. Many were divided, with some calling the running around "normal family noise".
One said: "Your neighbour can't move into a ground floor flat below a family with young children and expect silence. It normal family noise. Half of Mumsnet will tell you to make the child silent though!"
A second agreed: "I think your family needs to be able to relax in their own home. A toddler running about is normal. Your floors are carpeted, you will just have to tell him politely that this is normal family life."
However, many others felt the mum was not being "considerate" for waking her neighbour up early on a Sunday morning. One commented: "A three year old can usually understand the instruction not to run. Considering it’s still early on a Sunday morning, YABU (you are being unreasonable)."
A second echoed: "Before 8am on a Sunday? I wouldn't be too impressed. Yes, neighbours have to accept some family noise, but it sounds as though you weren't even trying to keep 3yr old quiet. You should be more considerate."
"I think that you have to be considerate, running round early on a Sunday morning is a bit unfair," wrote a third, while a fourth stated: "YABU. Stop fuming at a request that is perfectly reasonable."
Meanwhile, a fifth shared: "Normally I'm firmly in the 'don't move in to a downstairs flat below a young family if you don't like noise' camp but it is early on a Sunday morning. Sit her down to watch a movie or do some play dough or something for a couple of hours before letting her run round everywhere."
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