Oh gosh, sounds like a horrible day!! I have them sometimes and find that sounds are magnified and I feel like screaming and going insane!! I keep a bag of foam earplugs in my nightstand for such days and they DO help! Another investment I am loving is a hepa filter air machine. It has three levels and *high* is VERY helpful to fill the room with soothing white sound and drowning out the outside noises I don't always enjoy. Asking that playing children quiet down in the early summer evening is unreasonable in my opinion (though very tempting!)