Noisy Neighbors

That's right...apparently we are the noisy "upstairs" neighbors. We live on the top floor at our complex and our neighbors below us just starting complaining about us being too noisy. We have lived here for at least 4 months and haven't heard a single complaint. Things started to change last week. Remember the episode from the TV show Friends...The guy living below them starts banging on the ceiling with a broomstick whenever he feels that they are TOO loud. Well as a teenager growing up in a house in MO I thought this was so hilarious...who would ever do such a thing?! But apparently in apartment life it is totally normal. Last week, there were 2 or 3 times that I thought I heard a noise sounding like a broom banging on the floor below me. Thinking this couldn't be true, I brushed it off. However, earlier this week, the dad of the little baby that I watch a few times a week comes inside to pick up his little girl and he starts telling me that our neighbor says that we are making an "annoying" sound at like 7:00 am every morning. Awkward!! My poor employer has to hear the complaints about "my family's" noise from my neighbor with anger management issues. Every single time our downstairs neighbors think we are being too loud, they now let us know with broom-stick banging on the ceiling. I wish I could play you a recording of it. They bang very loudly and they don't just hit it a couple of times in one spot. They hit the ceiling like 4 or 5 times in multiple places around the apartment. Insane? I think yes!!! Today for instance, Navie ran from one side of the living room to the other. This probably took her a total of 10 to 12 steps and about 6 seconds. Immediately after we hear banging from below for about the next 20 seconds or so moving all around the apartment. CRAZY!!! Then Navie runs back and forth a few more times...I guess she was excited about something. I can understand that maybe after a minute or so of straight thudding feet early in the morning that you might hit the ceiling but 10 footsteps/6 seconds in the middle of the daytime and that calls for at least 20 seconds of banging from you...I don't think so. Then about 5 minutes after this running episode we hear an angry knock on our door. I was in the kitchen preparing dinner and Jason says "should we just pretend like we're not home?" Me: "Yes." What feels like a minute or two goes by...and we hear yet another angry knock. I don't know about you but as a mother with a young daughter, I hear angry knocking and I see that as a threat. I am not in the habit of just allowing threatening people into my home. I feel slightly guilty about not opening the door but if you can't even suppress your anger to knock on the door like a normal person...I'm certainly not going to choose to open the door just so you "can give me a piece of your mind." I would be more than willing to talk about this noise issue in a civilized manner but seeing as that does not seem to be an option, I will just hide inside my apartment instead. Hopefully I will not be posting about being kicked out of our apartment next week. We have talked to Navie about walking with quiet feet when we are inside...we'll see how that goes. If that doesn't work, we'll try strapping pillows on our feet.