A mother is facing a hefty fine due to her inability to quiet her 19-month-old child. Any parent knows that toddlers can be quite a handful. They resist sleep, turn meals into battles, and often express their emotions through loud cries and shrieks. The so-called “terrible twos” are a well-known phase, and now one mother, Rebecca Smith, is facing an absurd threat from her apartment management.
Rebecca recently shared her frustration on social media after receiving a letter from her strata, which manages her apartment building. The 34-year-old mom feels “harassed” by the management, which has threatened legal action and a $550 penalty if she cannot control the noise from her son. The letter stated that multiple neighbors have lodged complaints about the “shouting and screaming” coming from her unit during various hours of the day.
“It has been reported that excessive noise, specifically from your child shouting, is coming from your apartment frequently,” the letter claimed. “This is disrupting other residents, and you are in violation of the strata by-laws. Please ensure that your child does not produce excessive noise immediately and in the future.”
The idea that a mother could somehow “immediately” silence her toddler is both laughable and unrealistic. If there were a way to do that, Rebecca would surely have invented it by now and be living a peaceful life far away from overly sensitive neighbors.
As if managing a toddler isn’t challenging enough, Rebecca is also expecting her second child soon. Many can relate to the chaos of pregnancy while caring for a young child. “We are trying our best to be considerate,” she explained to a local news outlet. “We keep the windows shut and are aware that we live in an apartment. But he’s a toddler—this is what they do. There are other children in the building, but they are older.”
While it’s true that noisy toddlers can be disruptive, we must also consider the other sources of noise in apartment living, like the neighbor who plays loud television shows or the dog that barks incessantly. City life often means dealing with various sounds, and expecting complete silence from a toddler is unrealistic.
It’s unjust to stress a mother who is nearly nine months pregnant over her child’s natural behavior. Not being able to quiet a 19-month-old does not equate to poor parenting, nor should it result in fines or legal threats. For more on navigating pregnancy and parenting, be sure to check our other posts, such as this one on intrauterine insemination. If you’re interested in home insemination, this site offers helpful resources as well.
In summary, the challenges of parenting a toddler are well-known, and expecting absolute silence is unreasonable. The case of Rebecca highlights the need for understanding and compassion in shared living environments, especially for parents managing young children.