Friday, April 25, 2014

Dinner Bell

Some days it was embarrassing. Other days, it wasn't. Most of the time it depended who I was with, and if they were familiar with the routine. What was it all about? Mom had a cowbell she rang twice a day: precisely at 6 PM and then again at 9 PM. When the dinner bell sounded for supper, if I wanted to eat I had better be seated soon after I heard it. Cold food was not fun! The 'all in' bell rang at 9. If I wasn't present soon after I heard it, my 'outdoor existence' was usually cut short for the next few nights. I was lucky. I grew up in a neighborhood with plenty kids my age, guys and gals. I'm sure their parents secretly like the sound too, especially at 9. The bell was easy to hear. Mom just stepped out the back door and rang it 4-5 times. 
I lived with it.
I had no real problem with it.
Well, when I was with young ladies, it could be a bit perturbing.
On hot summer nights, if I pleaded 'pretty please', I got an extension until 10.
Mom was fair.

btw THIS isn't the bell!
If it was this one... Good Grief!
Where's the fire?????

11 comments:

  1. our moms just stepped out on the porch and yelled to get inside lol...i grew up on a street full of kids too...we stayed out all day long and i remember nights playing hide and seek till we were called in!

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  2. This reminds me of the bell the nuns would come out and ring to mark the end of recess!

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  3. i love that your mom rang a bell! awesome!

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  4. Boy, if my mother had to ring a bell for me to come home, it was already too late! :-)

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  5. That sounds like an arrangement that worked well.. Mums are fantastic!

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  6. A reasonable idea, that bell ringing . . . I don't remember my parents calling me and my siblings in . . . hmm. . .maybe they were happy that we stayed out as long as we wanted. haha.

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  7. That sounds like a nice respectable way of announcing the hour to you.

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  8. That's huge!

    My dad has an interest in the Titanic... one year my mother bought him a bell of that size with the markings of the ship on it.

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  9. I am lucky enough to have a real dinner bell ( it is large) that was used on my great grandmother's farm. I have only gave it a good "clang" a couple of times. I might scare someone!

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  10. I had a cow bell to call the kids in. . .no-one in the neighborhood seemed to mind, but my husband thought it was unnecessary. It worked so I continued it 'til everyone was too old to be playing with friends outside. I still have it and occasionally use it for my grandkids, but they , too, are getting too old. My husband still cringes when I use it.

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