The Daily Observer London Desk: Reporter- Sarah Marshal
A New York City couple went viral on social media when they left an amusing sign for their neighbours apologising for their newborn son’s loud cries. Their peace offering? A bucket of booze.
First-time parents Todd Wilson and Kristen Yanow recently welcomed their newborn son, Quint. Like many new parents, the pair were concerned that the frequent crying from their son would upset their neighbours – especially in such close quarters like a New York City apartment building.
So, the two came up with a solution. Outside the door to their apartment, they left a friendly sign that warned neighbours about their son’s “noisy” vocal range.
“We have a newborn,” the sign read. “He is loud. We are sorry. He’s cute as f***, but very noisy. Bear with us. Thanks for your patience.”
Below the doorknob, the couple left a tin bucket filled to the brim with Jameson and mini bottles of tequila, adding: “Take a nip or two at your leisure.”
Wilson initially posted the photo to his Instagram last week, but went viral when it re-posted to popular Instagram account What Is New York, which has more than 1.5m followers. There, the new parents’ sign received nearly 140k likes as social media users commended them for the friendly gesture.
“I hope their neighbours gift them lots of diapers and offer to turn over laundry loads in the basement,” commented one person.
“Wish I had thought of this!” said someone else.
“The bar has been set for Pomeranian owners,” another wrote.
However, others defended the couple by pointing out that they “should not feel guilty for having a baby.”
One user wrote: “Nice gesture but their neighbors should be understanding of the situation regardless.”
“Parenting a newborn is hard as f***,” another said. “Give them grace. Bring them soup and chocolate. Don’t bang on the door, the walls, the ceilings, or the floors. They’re doing the best they can, trust me.”
Speaking to Media, Todd Wilson revealed that the idea for his viral sign came to be after he became worried about the noises coming from their Lower East Side apartment. “I was running in and out of the unit somewhat regularly – doing laundry for a newborn is no joke and tossing the never-ending bags of diapers,” Wilson told us.
While standing outside their apartment, Wilson could hear his wife trying to soothe Quint’s screaming and worried that their son’s cries might upset the other three apartment on their floor. “From outside our apartment, I could hear Kristen trying to soothe Quint’s screaming,” he said. “I then realised Quint was quite possibly significantly louder than I had anticipated.”
After the post went viral, a neighbour texted the couple to say that she saw their sign on Instagram and confirmed that she couldn’t hear little Quint crying. Still, Wilson revealed that their neighbours were still pleased by the bucket of booze.
Despite many commenters emphasising that Wilson and Yanow shouldn’t feel guilty for having a newborn, Wilson maintained that there’s no guilt here. “We don’t feel guilty!” he said. “This is the Lower East Side of New York. There are not a lot of children and none in our building. As this is a new dynamic, we wanted to let our neighbors know and to have something to take the edge off.”
As for how life has been so far as family of three, Wilson said: “Sleepless and covered in baby waste but we love our little Quint.”
