AITAH for asking my neighbors to be mindful of their conversations?

Hello! I’m wondering if I’m the ah for reaching out to my neighbor about a conversation I overheard in their backyard. For context, we are in a city of row homes and our backyards touch each other. I’ve been really frustrated with them for sometime, but I’ve only ever said anything when it’s seemed necessary.

For example, last summer they removed all the paint from their house to repaint it, didn’t say anything to us and didn’t take measures to contain their mess. My daughter’s pool, all our plants and the ground were covered in their paint chips. I wrote them a nice letter with my number asking them to just give me a heads up next time, especially since I was pregnant at the time and it’s too much for me to clean up. Another time several years ago they were not containing their cigarette butts and they were rolling it’s my garden under the fence, so I asked them (over the fence) if they could contain them.

So now, I overheard a conversation between who I believed was the wife of the house and an older gentleman. I don’t think it was intended to be mean spirited or racist in nature, but that’s how it sounded, particularly if my older daughter had been back there with us. Attached are the text I sent to the husband (I don’t have the wife’s number) and the letter the wife left on my fence with tape.

I hear what she is saying about privacy and boundaries, but they haven’t shown any forethought in how their behaviors affect other people. I also haven’t said anything about their chain smoking which has drastically limited me and my daughters’ time in our backyard.

So, AITAH for saying something?

Posted Apr 5, 2026, 3:16 PM UTC

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