Dear PoP – The Kids are Driving Me Crazy

“Dear PoP,

A question for you regarding those damn noisy kids that are moving into the neighborhood. Specifically, a group of very nice early twenty-somethings are renting a house on my block and insist on having acoustic-guitar jamfests every night on their front porch. I’m not talking 9pm, it’s more like 11 or 12, with at least one night going from 2-4am, when a neighbor hissed at them and they (reluctantly) stopped and went inside. I don’t want to be the grumpy old curmudgeon down the block (especially since I’m only about 8 years older than they are) but as the weather gets cooler and we turn from AC at night to windows, these guys are not only gonna keep me up, but my kids as well. Anyone know any solution to this problem that doesn’t involve me going over and displaying the unneighborliness I’m afraid I’m going to have to display eventually?”

I actually don’t think it is being unneighborly if you go over and talk to them in a casual way. Sometimes you’ll be surprised at how reasonable people can be if you talk to them directly with respect but frankly. I think if you say – it’s reasonable to play the guitar until 9 or 10pm on weekdays but you have little children that need to go to sleep they’ll understand. Of course not everyone is reasonable but that is definitely the first step that should be taken in my opinion.

If a discussion is not able to resolve the problem another reader would like to know when it is reasonable to get a lawyer involved (in a different situation with a stereo blasting at all hours) and if anyone has any recommendations?