for our kids, is, you may be surpried to know, is, in the lake. That’s the LAST place they would ever be, if missing, at the lake house. Not sure why. But that’s just the least obvious place to find someone if you’re ready to serve dinner, and the kids are no where in sight. They could be engaged in any one of numerous activities — from turtle hunting, Monopoly — or whatever.
So, that’s why we have the cowbell. When it rings, just about everyone knows, it’s time for dinner at our house. We only have to ring it once — and we are quite strict about not ringing it unless it’s time for a stray child to come home — least it would loose its effectivness — as the boy who cries wolf one too many times.