The neighbour to the back has a toddler that literally shrieks and squeals continuously every 30 seconds or so through the day, and through part of the night. It's that particular naughty attention-getting squeal, not unhappiness or pain. I am honestly amazed that the little sh..., err, brat can keep it up all day every day, and that no-one else seems to mind. The matriarch of the family is one of the most vocal abrasive broads I've heard in country, so maybe the toddler is in training.

Other neighbours in our complex have visitors once a week that bring two little sh... err, brats, with them, said kids wander down, stand in front of our place, and do the same squealing behaviour for hours on end. When we tell them to sod off, they do, but then come back. Oddly, they don't do it in front of the house they're visiting.

Question: is this normal behaviour in this culture, and is it normal for adults to ignore it?

John Bingham wrote:There are certainly quite a few over-indulged little brats around but I can't say I've ever heard of that particular one. That would drive me nuts, I can't stand high-pitched screaming.

Me either, it would seem. She's squealing right now, as a matter of fact.

Try a bucket of cold water
But yes, normal behaviour. Had a neighbour like that. I heard or read somewhere that it can be a reaction to the arrival of a baby, who is taking the kids place as the most pampered being in the household.
And even in the west you see parents who ignore their kids shrieking. Think that they just don't even notice after a while.

Anchor Moy wrote:Think that they just don't even notice after a while.

Once in a very rare while someone will attempt to shut the kid up, but the mother (I assume) gets involved and it goes straight back to normal. I'm normally indifferent but we're talking at least 14 hours a day of shrieking every 30 seconds or so - I've never seen endurance and persistence like it.

Ear plugs ? Heavy metal ?

Anchor Moy wrote:Ear plugs ? Heavy metal ?

Budgies.

We have a few on our street that used to stand outside our door and scream like that.

I walked them over to their house and told them to scream there, in front of their mother.

They haven't been back.

It's just the parents training them to be noise-mongers when they grow up, then they switch to weddings/funerals/music.

Go speak to Mommy, otherwise it will never stop.

Not sure whether that will make it better or worse. She has other kids that are not currently squealing. On the plus side, the hammer alarm did start at about 4am this morning and stop a minute after we were both up, so that's something for nothing.