Keyport chimes and family dinner

Every night at 6pm the city of Keyport plays the "Westminster Chimes" over a loudspeaker. They've been doing it since 2005 and it's reminiscent of the time the local children were supposed to be home for dinner. Now the Monmouth County Department of Health wants them to cease because it violates the Noise Control Act of 1971. This should be their biggest problem.

So far Keyport has complied but the officials would like to get the law changed so that the chimes can sound again. What gets me about the story is this "harkening back" to family dinner. I think we all should be having family dinner and if we were, our kids as well as ourselves would be better off.

Every night in the Trevelise house we have family dinner. We eat at 5:00 and my kids, as well as their friend Hector, know this by the jersey they had to wear once to remind them (see above). The anticipation of family dinner starts as the meal is being prepared as some will try to steal a bite. Sometimes I eat more cooking the meal than I do at the table.

Before we eat, we pray, then dig in not only to what's on our plates but what happened to us during the day, what's happening tomorrow and the rest of the week, who we heard from, what's happening with them, etc etc etc.There are no cell phones or tablets allowed at the table, just lots of food, conversation, and connection. Despite all the social media that we have available to us, we still need human connection. The best place to have it is with the family you can trust. It's when you don't feel connected that you turn to other things.

Granted, my boys are only 11 and schedules won't always permit it, but no matter what, we will find a way, much like we do now with me working at night. If you really want to  bring people together and feel connected, start with family dinner.

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