The Dinner Bell

Three and a half years ago I passed on a fantastic ship's type bell at Home Goods in Pennsylvania and I immediately regretted it.  It was going to replace a little musical triangle as our dinner bell, because Sir O was constantly losing the metal stick portion of it.  Somewhere in our move back to the West the triangle was lost and so was a really fun family tradition.  So when I found another awesome bell at TJMaxx lately, I knew I better buckle down and buy it or I'd be haunted by regret all over again.

And so the routine at our house is that whomever helps me set the dinner table also gets to ring the bell once dinner is served.  And once the bell has rung, you had better scurry to join us, because we won't wait around for you to start (can you tell we have pokey kids?)   It's been a fun way to eliminate one of the dozens of times each day that I find myself nagging my children.  If I could just find a fun way to help my kids "want" to get ready for school and out the door on time......