Dinner's ready

My cooking has always been the target of family jokes.

One evening, as I prepared dinner a bit too quickly, the kitchen filled with smoke and the smoke detector went off.

Although both of my children had received fire-safety training at school, they did not respond to the alarm.

Annoyed, I stormed through the house in search of them. I found them in the bathroom, washing their hands.

Over the loud buzzing of the smoke alarm, I asked them to identify the sound. It's the smoke detector, they replied in unison.

Do you know what that sound means? I demanded. Sure, my oldest replied. Dinner's ready.