Pipe down

Wow, I must be getting old and crochety or am just way too sensitive to noise. My kids seem to be the loudest people on the face of the earth. Well, no, it's not just them - it's so many children I encounter every day. What is that about? I know sometimes kids will talk louder because other people are talking and they want to be heard. Last night, we were at the library and I told my little one several times that we had to use our "library voices" inside. I love this place - it actually has a traffic light and the light is green when it's quiet. If you're too loud, the light turns red. I need one of those in my house! But, there's the short one making absolutely no attempt at all to use a library voice. Or, maybe, her library voice is the same level as other people's "at the baseball field voice". I don't know. I know some people who talk so much and so loudly that I think they just love the sound of their own voice. Don't they mind that other people are hearing about their private business? Do they care that other people might not be interested in their conversation? (take note, people who put their cell phones on speaker in restaurants and other places - it's just rude!) I was telling a friend today that I might get my daughter's ears checked because I don't think she can hear herself. That's got to be the reason she talks to loud. Well, that and the fact that her father has a loud, booming voice. I don't want them to stop talking (well, maybe just for a few minutes) I just want them to lower the volume to an acceptable level. Something that doesn't make me feel like I'm at a rock concert! Maybe I could stick cotton balls in my ears to solve the problem. Mommy Ear Plugs. It's a thought.