Oct 21-Can I deal with the neighbor kids?

When we moved to Tampa last April we rented a home instead of buying until we knew the city well enough to decide where we fit in best. We've been exploring all different areas and spending more time in the parts that we feel a strong connection with. The thing is, there isn't one area of the city that's jumped out yet as our favorite. The one that makes us feel warm and fuzzy and included.

So, we've started to think that maybe the house we're renting is good enough. We do love the house because it's the perfect size, layout, yard, pool, kitchen, bedrooms and distance from our jobs. There's only one small thing about it that's keeping me from purchasing it...the horrible neighbor kids. Seriously, they have screeches so loud pitched that they could break every piece of stemware in my Crate and Barrel store. It sounds like someone is being tortured and burned at the stake every time they are outside playing in their lanai. This family desperately needs an intervention with Super Nanny.

Since we've started to grow fond of the house I decided that tonight I would come home from work and challenge myself to stay outside enjoying our beautiful pool and lanai even if the kids came out and started their nightly screams. I was outside for only about 10min. when it started and immediately it was so painful to listen to that I almost came inside. I seriously considered calling 911 because surely tonight someone was really being burned at the stake. How could such small children produce such horrific sounds if they were just playing and having fun? Is that even possible? I stood by our screen looking over there looking for smoke or the silhouette of an ax coming down on someone's arm. All I saw was 3 children riding those small powered cars around in circles, apparently scaring the bejesus out of each other.

I know I've always had a much lower tolerance for misbehaved children than most people and since the onset of menopause it's gotten worse. I think just knowing that we don't actually own the house and that if we wanted to move we could, makes it bearable. I'm afraid that buying this house would only infuriate me more and I might eventually make that 911 call. So we'll keep looking and exploring other options for our permanent home in Tampa but in meantime I might have to call Super Nanny.