SJ: I know what you mean and it might take a few "get to know you" chats to feel confident to ask her. Nearly everyone loves to talk about their kids though and maybe (if you'd like to go down this path) start by just introducing yourself and saying "hi" to her kids and then asking their names/ages. If they have just moved in then maybe the stress of moving house is the thing that has triggered the angry outbursts? I hope that settles down. I'm sure they do actually love their kids, and maybe if you got to know them you might eventually find out what kind of things are making the parents feel stressed/swear. We all know you are a lovely person and I'm sure that they would value having such a caring neighbour