No one goes into home renovations lightly. They take months and months of consideration and planning. And in the case of one couple on Reddit, it took nearly 18 months to finalize everything for the “major rebuild” on their old row house. That’s no small feat! And, of course, getting there is only half the battle. Now, the rest should be at the mercy of the contractors.
The operative word being should.
But one couple next door thinks they are the next in line to be making decisions. Because that’s just how it goes on the “Am I The A—hole? (AITA)” subreddit. *Sigh*
How It All Started
The person who originally posted (the “OP”) quickly learned that that old adage is true: No good deed goes unpunished. After finalizing everything, they texted their neighbors to let them know construction would start at the end of the month and last for 3-4 months. Which is an extremely thoughtful thing to do.
“[My partner and I] are not extremely close with the neighbors but always pleasant,” they explained.
The Problem Neighbors
After the text went out, one neighbor — with whom OP shares a wall — came by to “express disappointment in the timing” because his girlfriend is pregnant and due next week. “We told him how sorry we were for the timing but obviously it wasn’t intentional.”
Shortly after the visit, OP and their partner received a text asking if they could talk about “possible solutions” the next day — such as delaying the renovations by 3-4 months. (Meaning they would be starting at the time they are currently projected to be finishing.) “We agreed to meet but told him delaying was not possible because we already have another place lined up for us to live in, contractor agreement, etc.”
You won’t be surprised to hear the meeting was “not ideal.” The girlfriend cried the whole time, saying she cried more in the past 24 hours than in the past two years. She’s worried about how her current stress will affect the baby and how this will impact everyone’s sleep.
“She couldn’t believe that we just sent them a text message with only a month in advance and that we should have come talk to them in person as this was the first she was hearing about this. Did we even put ourselves in their shoes? They have nowhere else to go.”
What Now?
OP said they and their partner “obviously feel for [their neighbors] as new parents.” It will no doubt be noisy and disruptive. But that doesn’t mean plans will change. Instead, OP is going to get a schedule from their contractor so the parents-to-be can see what days will be noisiest and plan accordingly. Perhaps they can stay with a friend or family?
“They want us to ask the contractor if there can be quiet hours from 12-3. I don’t think that is realistic and don’t know what else we could do to amend the situation,” OP said.
So now they want to know, “AITA for not delaying our rebuild for our pregnant neighbors?”
Reddit’s Reaction
Are you kidding? Reddit says this is a “massive overreaction” on the part of the neighbors. “[The baby is] going to make noise all on its own,” said the top comment with 4.1 thousand upvotes. “It can now make as much noise as it likes without disturbing you … I would suggest you stop being quite so accommodating and concentrate instead on your own plans and carrying them forward.”
Others totally agreed and said these parents-to-be need to buy a white noise machine and not give it another thought. Construction or otherwise, this baby is going to sleep on its own schedule.
“[If my 1-year-old wants] to sleep, they will sleep through anything,” one person said. “If they don’t want to, a tissue dropping will wake them up.”
“Some people even recommend that you make noise whilst baby sleeps e.g. hoovering; watching tv, chatting, etc to get them used to noises from daily living so you don’t need to tiptoe around them when they take their (many) naps.”
Ultimately, Redditors agreed that these entitled neighbors don’t get to dictate what noise is made out in the world and when. They can do what they want in their own home, but are they going to block off the roads so cars can’t drive by when the baby is napping? Yell at Mother Nature when there’s a thunderstorm?
“So many people forget that life is seldom silent.”
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