Karen neighbor complains about 7 and 9-year-old kids playing outside at 10 AM, demands that they stop running around and laughing: 'Meanwhile, I can hear her vacuuming and blasting her TV through the walls'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Aug 12, 2025 8:00 AM EDT

Some people live to complain. They have easy, comfortable, happy lives, and that bores them. They're so bored that they have to seek out problems to complain about, as it makes them feel important. When I was a teenager working at a restaurant in an incredibly wealthy community, I was always shocked by how little it would take to make a customer scream and holler at you. If they got broccoli on the side of their orange chicken after asking for "no veggies," they would act as if you kidnapped their firstborn son and threw him down the garbage chute. 

Career complainers can find fault in any situation, no matter how banal. They will find fault in children laughing or puppies playing. They only care about their happiness and comfort, even if it's at the expense of another. They don't care if it makes them unpopular, because complaining is far more satisfying to them than meaningful connections with others. 

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  • Boy in blue t-shirt and gray shorts climbing tree
    via Jeremiah Lawrence

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • The woman in this story is a classic Karen complainer. She can't see the beauty in a couple of kids playing in their yard at 10 AM. She would prefer if they stayed cooped up inside, doing nothing of value like she does.

  • My neighbor actually complained about my kids playing outside at 10 AM

    I live in a quiet suburban neighborhood where kids usually play outside during the day My kids are 7 and 9 and every morning around 10 AM they go out to play in our front yard running around laughing doing normal kid stuff
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • A young girl climbing up a tree in a park
    via Yevhenii Deshko (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • My neighbor who apparently thinks 10 AM is some kind of ungodly hour to let kids be kids She stormed over to my house the other day full on Karen mode and started complaining that my kids were making too much noise and disrupting her peace at 10 AM when birds are chirping and the sun is shining
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • She even said she had trouble concentrating on her work because of the racket Meanwhile I can hear her vacuuming and blasting her TV through the walls but hey sure my innocent kids are the problem
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • A woman using a vacuum to clean a carpet
    via Karolina Grabowska (Unsplash+)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • I tried to explain to her that kids playing outside is literally part of living in a neighborhood and that 10 AM is not some kind of forbidden time for joy and laughter She just scoffed and walked away like I was the unreasonable one
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • Are we seriously going to let entitled neighbors police the sound of children playing What is next banning laughter
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • TLDR My neighbor complained about my kids playing outside at 10 AM claiming it is too noisy Meanwhile she makes more noise herself Entitled much.
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • Jyobachah When I was growing up, one of my friends on our street had a trampoline. We were outside after dinner on it and someone a couple doors down came to yell at us, it was about 5:30-6:00pm; sun was still shining. She wanted us to
    via u/Jyobachah
  • stop what we were doing because it was making her kids want to come outside too and that wasn't allowed in their household. So we needed to also not be outside after dinner hours, as if her household rules applied to all houses on the street.
    via u/Jyobachah
  • Grimaldehyde If she complains again, tell her to call the police, and have THEM tell her there's nothing wrong with what your kids are doing.
    via u/Grimaldehyde
  • funnybunnysunnie OP Yeah, that's a solid plan. Let her go bother the cops instead of us. My kids aren't doing anything wrong, and it's about time someone called her out.
    via u/funnybunnysunnie
  • Grimaldehyde It's eventually going to come to that-it always does with people like her. Might as well get it over with!
    via u/Grimaldehyde
  • liz_teria I told a kid who was shooting hoops outside my window to go home once. But it was summer in Alaska, and he was playing at 1 am. I think I was justified.
    via u/liz_teria
  • Mamaknowsbest45 I lived on a housing estate and on the way in there was a primary school that had been there far longer than the houses and one day the kids were having an exercise class outside and the residents were complaining because of the noise of the music and kids laughing and singing in the middle of the afternoon. People are idiots.
    via u/Mamaknowsbest45
  • NotTheBadOne I chose not to have any kids myself but .... For about five years I lived right next to an elementary school with a huge soccer field. Every morning before school started they let all the kids gather out there to play and they played really loud pop music songs to get their day started.
    via u/NotTheBadOne
  • I thought it was wonderful! So many sounds of laughter and pure joy. It was a happy and beautiful thing to hear every morning.... OP's neighbor sounds like a miserable old witch and that's a sad thing...
    via u/NotTheBadOne
  • Traveler_Protocol1 I agree with you unless your kids are screaming. One time my neighbors kids/grandkids were literally screaming at the top of their lungs and I got so sick of it, I screamed as loud as I could when there was a short lull in the noise. I love to hear kids play, and some screaming happens, but nonstop screaming is awful.
    via u/Traveler_Protocol1
  • TA122278 This is what I was thinking too. I have neighbors that I feel like could have written this. I haven't said anything, and to my knowledge none of the other neighbors have either, but these people are awful and I guarantee they would act like "it's just normal kid noise". It's not. Their kids scream like banshees constantly. Ear piercing, sounds like they're being murdered screams. Their dog barks constantly. They play music so loud/obnoxious that it can be heard throughout my whole house
    via u/TA122278
  • I hate them. And they don't do it outside normal hours so there's nothing to be done. Except listen to it. All.the.time. I have kids. I get it. But even my kids complain about how loud these people are. I always take these "it's just normal kid noise" posts with a grain of salt. But to OP credit, 10am is a perfectly fine time of day for kids to make kid noise so Karen neighbor needs to get over it.
    via u/TA122278
  • Asleep-Beautiful-366 I live in an "old people" neighborhood. Over the last couple of years a few families have moved in with kids. Admittedly the lots are big so we aren't right on top of each other, but when I hear kids laughing and playing through the trees it makes me feel like the neighborhood is alive and I smile.
    via u/Asleep-Beautiful-366
  • No_Wolf1795 I had something to that effect happen to me at an apartment complex. Apartment manger told me when I paid rent that she received a complaint of being loud during the day. I said excuse me, when? I have three kids. At that time they were 7, 9 and 11. I said that's a lie. She said she knew cause I never had a complaint. Fast forward a month later, I go in to pay rent and downstairs tenant was also doing the same. So I said I heard you mentioned kids were loud all day. Do you realize we
    via u/No_Wolf1795
  • SlidersAfter Midnight Landscapers mowing the lawns are done way earlier.
    via u/SlidersAfterMidnight

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karens neighbors kids neighborhood yard neighborhood-drama bad neighbors neighborhood-stories terrible neighbors karen neighbor Bad Neighbor karen neighbor playing
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