Go back home and do the dishes

For those who don't know the background, we have a neighbor on the street behind us - actually across the street from the people behind us - who are always playing loud music in their car stereo. It's really annoying, shakes the dishes in our house and often scares Nora. If the windows are open or we are outside, we can hear the words to the songs, and I do not look forward to the day Nora starts repeating those words!

Anyway, Andy and I have repeatedly asked the kid to turn the music down. I had called the police about it twice in the past because I didn't want to bundle the kids up to ask someone (again) to turn the music down. Today, at 1:15pm, about ten minutes after Nora fell asleep, the music started, as did some really loud engine revving. Nora woke up and wanted to know what the banging was, so I told her it was someone's music and she should try to go back to sleep (yeah, right). Normally, if the music doesn't stop after five minutes, I pack up the kids and go for a walk or to the library or anywhere just to get away, but both kids are just getting over colds and I didn't want to spread the super snot sickness. After 15 minutes, the music was giving me a nasty headache, so I decided to walk over and ask them to turn it down. I got Nora set up on the couch with Curious George on TV (yes, I know, I'm a horrible mom - I actually used the tv to babysit Nora today...and I'm STILL feeling bad about it, even if it was only for 4 minutes...but I digress). Once Nora was settled, I put my coat on (Beth was in the Ergo, so I wrapped the coat around her), and walked over. I asked (loudly, since it was so loud) to turn the music down. The "kid's" mom (kid is in quotes because I believe he graduated/dropped out of high school last year) comes out and tells me he can play his music as loud as he wants because it's not nighttime. I politely (put again, loudly, because of the music) asked that it be turned down and kept at a reasonable level since it was keeping my children awake during naptime. The kid turned the music down, and the mom said he had every right to play it as loud as we wanted during the day. I told her about the noise ordinance in Nashua and that, if requested, the music must be turned down, and I was requesting it be turned down as it was keeping my children awake. She shook her hands at me and told me to go back home and wash dishes! By the time I got home, the music was back up loud and Nora was looking out the window for me.

Lets just say I'm really angry! I called the police and put in a complaint. They sent someone over, but just as in the past, the kid drove away in his car just moments before the cops drove by. This time, the police officer stopped by my house to make sure he had the right address and told me to call next time they are playing loud music. He also said that the address is a familiar one with the police station. Grr.

So what does this all mean? Now I'm a bit nervous being home because I have such nasty neighbors and I'm worried how they might react to a police visit. I'm also feeling like I HAVE to go back to work full time just so that I can move and get my children away from this environment. I really don't want to work full time until the kids are in school, but I really don't want to stay where I currently live either. Sigh....