228 days

228 days. That's how long we've been living in this apartment and I'm starting to feel every minute of it. Don't get me wrong, the place itself is not actually that bad as they go, and I have nothing against flats in themselves, but I've just had enough.

The last time I lived in a flat was pre-children, and was in a shiny new complex at the Royal Victoria Dock in London. I quite liked it there, despite the couple upstairs who argued very loudly all the time; and being under the flight path for City Airport which meant you couldn't hear the tv every time a plane came over. But then I was in the pub (which was actually a boat, in the dock outside - best local ever) most of the time anyway and my flatmate was at work or away, so it didn't really matter.

Living in an apartment with kids is an entirely different matter though. It's one thing having limited space and no garden when there's only 2 of you, but quite another when there's 5 of you. Having to pre-book the laundry for one half-day slot a week is a huge pain as well. The people living directly above us are quite noisy - they have a child who runs around in hob-nailed boots every night at about 9pm, and what sounds like it must be a rowing machine that is in use at 6am and 10pm every day. And then there's the electric guitar that appeared last weekend. Someone somewhere else in the building has a drum kit which thankfully seems to have been broken since the summer.

All of which makes me overly paranoid about how loud we must be to the people living directly below us, and I seem to spend all day telling the children not to run around and to keep the noise down to a respectable level. Not that they're that bad, they just get carried away with whatever game they're playing and forget. So it really irritates me that I'm so conscientious about not disturbing our neighbours but other people don't give a monkey's. I mean really - an electric guitar and drumkit? I don't worry so much about the people next door as they have a newborn and the only time I've heard it has when I've actually been outside on the landing waiting for the lift.

It does provide amusement at times - we get a great view of what's going on in the street; and then the other evening, a woman from upstairs got out of the lift on the wrong floor and tried to unlock our front door with her key about 3 times till I opened it and just looked at her and smiled. I've been convinced I was going to do the same thing since we moved here so I'm glad it was her and not me. The endless hot-water and the ease of only having to pay one bill a month (rent includes electricity, heating, internet, tv and everything else) has been really useful too.

Having said all that, I'm now going to go away and nurse the guilt that I feel after we spent 2 whole afternoons in a row playing Guitar Hero with drums. Please cross everything you have that we find a house soon - the next piece of noise-making equipment upstairs brings back might just send me postal....