People thought that as they grew older, Aaron and Too-Loud Lilly would be calmer or quieter in their ways.  They couldn't have been more wrong.

Now six and four-and-a-half respectively,  Aaron and Too-Loud Lilly were as demanding, selfish, and spoiled as ever.  This was evident in the Christmas stash they got from dear old Santa Claus just two days earlier:  bikes.  Computer and computer games.  A guitar.  DVDs.  CDs.  mP3 players.  Money (at least $300.00 each between the two of them).  Books.  A drum set.  A Wii game system.  Skis.  Boots.  Ski garb.  New trendy clothes.  A new television and phone for their room. 

And did the parents even care?  Nope.  Just as long as their children were happy, that's all that mattered.  And they still let them run the house, let them do whatever they pleased.  All the parents cared about was either sleeping or making out in bed; both wanted another child.  Or if they were awake and not yelling at the kids, they spent their time on their computer, playing games. 

The parents let the kids entertain themselves; if the kids misbehaved, they spent their time screaming obscenities at them.

Then the kids wondered why they acted out.  They acted bad just so they could get the attention.  They were in all actuality unhappy.  Oh, yes.  Very much so.  The parents never told them they loved them or gave them praise whenever they behaved.  They expected them to fend for themselves, even though they were not nearly old (or responsible) enough to look after themselves or each other.

Neighbors were forever complaining about the noise level of the apartment in which the Gaffney family lived.  The banging, constant running around, constant yelling quickly grew on people's nerves; the police had been called to the Gaffney residence more than once.  And the landlord of the apartment complex didn't seem to do anything about these noisy neighbors; all she said was that they were kids.  Nothing more, nothing less.

People who had once lived at the apartment complex moved away because they couldn't deal with the Gaffney family.  They felt they had to move away just to save their sanity.

The neighbors that remained (mostly senior citizens or people who were disabled) knew that if things didn't change soon, they were going to have to demand inmmediate action, or they, too, were going to leave the apartment complex in which they lived.

*To be continued.*