Am I overreacting over my sister playing the harmonica?
My sister (18) and I (20) still live with our parents. She has recently been learning to play the harmonica, and the problem is that she practices in our shared living spaces rather than in her own room.
I’m autistic and very sensitive to loud, continuous sounds, and harmonica is one of those sounds I genuinely can’t tolerate for very long. I don’t expect her to stop playing altogether. Even if she just played in another room with one thin door between us, I’d be completely fine with that.
Today I was cooking while she was playing in the kitchen/living room area (they’re basically one big room). I tried to tolerate it while I was cooking, but once the food was ready, I reached a point where I really needed to get away from the sound.
I didn’t want to go to my bedroom because I was still wearing my outside clothes, so the only other room I could really go to was the laundry room. I know sitting in the laundry room might sound petty or dramatic, but I genuinely wasn’t doing it to make a point. I just wanted somewhere quieter to sit and eat.
When it sounded like she had stopped, I came back out and asked if she was done because sitting in the laundry room obviously wasn’t very comfortable. She ignored me. She seems to think it’s ridiculous that I can’t stand listening to her play the harmonica.
Our parents don’t really care either way. They don’t mind her playing in the common areas, but they also don’t particularly care that I struggle with the noise. We also don’t have neighbors close enough for the harmonica to bother them, so that isn’t a factor here.
I’m not asking her to stop learning or never play it. I just want her to practice in another room instead of the shared spaces.
Something similar happened a week ago, and all she said about it this time was “well, you had 3 days without the harmonica” because we were both away from home.
Am I being ridiculous?
Posted Aug 13, 2026, 8:33 PM UTC