I like to think that a majority of people out there sharing living spaces try to be good neighbors.

There are always a few bad apples that like to ruin the punch, though.

And when those bad apples make your babies cry?

You have to stomp them out. Those are the rules.

Which is exactly what this guy did after their cranky downstairs neighbor scared their 2yo so badly she didn’t want to go to bed.

Downstairs neighbor complained that we’re too loud

I currently live in a 3 story apartment building with my wife (pregnant with our 2nd child) and my almost-2 year old daughter.

Our downstairs neighbor is an old woman who lives alone (with a small yippy dog) and shall be henceforth abbreviated as OH for old hag.

The neighbor thinks they are too loud.

Backstory is that on multiple occasions the old hag will knock on her ceiling (my floor) when she thinks we’re stomping too much.

In the middle of the day. (Btw she often lets her yippy dog outside who bark incessantly past 11pm)

The apartment definitely has thin floors because we hear our upstairs neighbors throughout the day and late into the night. But they’re another story altogether.

There was one weird encounter outside…

A few weeks ago my wife’s parents were visiting us, and while standing outside on the balcony with my MiL and daughter, OH walks outside her terrace with the yippy dog. Conversation went something like this:

OH: oh, hi. Are you my upstairs neighbor?

Me: yep! We live here, just me, my wife and our daughter. (I said as I motioned to my daughter for her to see the cutie)

OH: oh… I thought it was an African American man who lived there.

Me (I’m very white): umm.. no ma’am, not to my knowledge. We’ve been here for a little over a year now.

OH: I see..

Me: well it was nice meeting you… Gotta go help inside (and took the opportunity to leave)

She speaks to my MiL for another minute as I go back inside to help my wife with some lunch preparations.

That led to a call from the leasing office, but they were told they are doing nothing wrong.

Not 2 minutes later my phone rings. It’s the apt complex’s front office management saying our downstairs neighbor is reporting a noise complaint and we’re too loud. (In my mind: “Excuse me?? The effing witch said what?!) She could have said it to my face and asked like a decent person, but that was just low.

My wife and I are angry, so we go to the front office to let them know that its absurd of her to complain at 2 in the afternoon about footsteps. We werent playing music or anything. Just hanging out around the house with the in-laws and kiddo.

Property mgmt confirms that she is in the wrong and county regulations state that normal noise times are from 10am – 11pm, and as long as we’re not being excessively loud (like throwing a party) she can’t complain.

Then one night, things got ugly.

I get home late, around 9pm with my daughter, wife doesn’t get home til 9:30 (we both often work late shifts at our jobs, my mom watches my daughter during the day) so I keep her awake to see mommy for a bit before bed.

Wife gets home and we hang out in the living room for a bit, and my daughter wants me to chase her, so I do. She loves playing “gonna getchu!” It’s about 9:40pm and “quiet” hours only start after 11.

This led to the woman banging like mad on the ceiling and traumatizing their toddler.

Within a minute there is a pounding knock on our floor, for a FULL MINUTE WITHOUT STOPPING.

This absolutely terrified my daughter (who isn’t quite 2 yet, but is very verbose) since she didn’t understand what was happening.

She starts crying and wailing saying “All done! Knocking! All done! Knocking!”

Crying and repeating this mantra even through bedtime songs.

It took her almost an hour to calm down from this and finally fall asleep, with the last thing she mutters being “All done knocking” one last time as she falls asleep.

This old witch is traumatizing my kid who’s learning to walk/run and I’m not having it.

Again, they are in the right.

We go to bed and I go to the property mgmt office first thing this morning.

Let them know what she did to my child the night before, and showed them a recording of her reaction to it, saying “All done knocking” as I was trying to sing her to sleep and another video of her wailing her eyes out, clearly terrified, as my wife held her before going to bed.

Management agreed that Old Hag is wrong here and is going to kindly let her know that she is not allowed to knock on my floor during non-quiet hours.

If she does, I have the right to call the police on her for harassment. (Im even considering filing a restraining order if she does it again)

So, let the noise parade begin.

Well, the MC is now about to start:

From 10am to 11pm, whenever my wife and I are home we are no longer going to watch our step as we have been in the past.

We know how awful it is since we constantly hear our upstairs neighbors stomp around, so we tried to be extra careful up until now.

Not anymore. She made my daughter cry and in turn really stressed out my pregnant wife giving her anxiety. She is gonna pay for it. From 10am to 11pm the elephant parade is officially in town. After that, quiet time it is!

Anyone who scares a baby deserves what they get.

Let’s see if Reddit agrees!

This guy would go all out.

Misery loves company.

Folks need updates.

You can’t judge a book by its cover.

You never know with cats.

If noise bothers you, apartment living might not be your thing.

I’m just saying.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check this one out about a man who created a points system for his inheritance, and a family friend ends up getting almost all of it.