Usually the only white noise I have is Livia purring beside me (she purrs a lot), and in the summer with the windows open, a mature Norway maple in the breeze, outside my home office (my bedroom is the back of a “double room”, my office the front).
I don’t mind a bit of noise. It is a lively neighbourhood with some cafรฉs, restaurants and bars (but not on my street)and I always sort of hear some late revellers returning home about 3 a.m., though it doesn’t really go on for long and I’ve been asleep for hours, just sense them. But these people were at it with loud music all evening and well into the night, and it is not only on the weekend. I should try to find the address and see if it is sublet as an air b&b… they are a plague in many cities now, though I admit myself that I’d rather stay in a studio than in a hotel room…
Since I’ve never had human children I feel a bit awkward commenting on their behaviour, but having lived in different places, it is obvious that some tolerate more bad behaviour on their part than others, and whether children are taken along to “adult” places also varies a great deal. But it is true that even friends and relatives who are parents can be relieved to be over the early years when babies and toddlers, cute as they are, require parents’ constant attention…