Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Solo mum from Napier distraught after anonymous note from neighbour

Vera Alves
By Vera Alves
NZ Herald Planning Editor and Herald on Sunday columnist·NZ Herald·
2 Jan, 2019 02:00 AM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Ana Gray with Wiremu, 7, received the anonymous note in her letterbox. Photo / Supplied

Ana Gray with Wiremu, 7, received the anonymous note in her letterbox. Photo / Supplied

It wasn't the start to the year that Ana Gray had hoped for.

The 28-year-old solo mum from Napier checked her letterbox the day after New Year's Day to find an angry note from a neighbour, threatening to call her landlord and child services because of her son's yelling.

Her heart sank as she read the anonymous note.

"If you don't stop that kid yelling I will ring child support and report you. We all getting sick of the yelling and also ring your landlord," the note said.

Ana Gray and her son Wiremu. Photo / Facebook
Ana Gray and her son Wiremu. Photo / Facebook
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"That kid" is Ana's seven-year-old son, Wiremu. Five years ago, he was diagnosed with autism and Global Development Delay (GDD). Yelling is just part of how he copes with it.

She knows the yelling gets on people's nerves. It gets on her nerves too and she has to deal with it every day. The anonymous note has brought on additional stress to an already tough situation.

"I would have preferred being spoken to face to face so I can explain our situation," the mum said. "It is very hard for me doing this on my own."

Because the note wasn't signed, she has no way of knowing who sent it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The solo mum, who has three other children, says "he has become more difficult to handle". "There's nothing I can do about it right now," she says.

On a Facebook post, Gray apologised to her neighbours for her "disruptive" son. "We're only trying to live life as each day goes by in the hopes that things will only get better for us," she added in the post.

Things might, indeed, get better soon. "The help I need is well on its way and I couldn't be happier about that," Gray told the Herald.

The family is currently on the waiting list for Wiremu to see a paediatrician. "Now that he is older things have changed and he has become more of a challenge for me."

"I understand why my neighbours would complain, he is very loud and has his random outbursts almost every day," the mum says.

The note from a neighbour.
The note from a neighbour.

Because of Wiremu's outbursts, Gray says they spend a lot of time at home as taking him anywhere is complicated. "He yells all the time and people stare, say things under their breath and complain," she says.

"The only thing i can do to keep him calm and quiet is to let him have my cellphone which has Minecraft [Wiremu's favourite game] installed on it for him to play on all day everyday."

Her landlord has known about her son's diagnosis and never had any complaints until now.

Life is not easy for the single mum, who's been living in the Napier flat for eight months, but she says she's happy.

"I love my son to pieces. He may not be perfect to others but he is perfect to me."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Be bold': Pukenamu parking plan revealed but councillor unconvinced

Whanganui Chronicle

'Band-Aids on Band-Aids' keep pedestrian bridge going

Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui benefits from $4.5m boost to national visitor programme


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Be bold': Pukenamu parking plan revealed but councillor unconvinced
Whanganui Chronicle

'Be bold': Pukenamu parking plan revealed but councillor unconvinced

'We are going to spend $10,000 to get a consultant to tell us how many car parks we need.'

05 Aug 06:00 PM
'Band-Aids on Band-Aids' keep pedestrian bridge going
Whanganui Chronicle

'Band-Aids on Band-Aids' keep pedestrian bridge going

05 Aug 06:00 PM
Whanganui benefits from $4.5m boost to national visitor programme
Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui benefits from $4.5m boost to national visitor programme

05 Aug 05:00 PM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP