Meg's Egypt Night
April 18, 2003
Written by her mom, Stephanie
My daughter continually amazes me. At three she was conversing in complete sentences. At six she was carrying on intelligent conversations with the adults around her. At ten she began giving serious consideration to what the Lord wanted her to ‘be when she grew up’. So why was I surprised when, just shy of her 14th birthday, she hosted her first dinner party and it was a resounding success?
I knew all the plans were laid out and suggestions given in the lesson plans of KONOS’ History of the World I’s Egypt unit. I know she is dependable and thorough (usually!) in most everything she does. I observed these past few weeks as she regularly demonstrated that she was acquiring a vast amount of information about Egypt. The foundation for success was well laid.
I think my concerns can be excused, though. She’s never before hosted a dinner party. The closest she’s come is occasionally (with help!) making dinner for the family and grandparents. She takes hours to just make cookies (although she did teach herself how to make them as soon as I let her loose in the kitchen at about 11 years old). She often ‘majors on the minors’ and misses the overall effect or ‘big picture’ (just look at her room, with it areas of snazzy decorations, but overall cluttered ‘feel’). And I did have to pull her away from the books and force her to concentrate on her plans for the dinner party project. I did have to set (and enforce!) a deadline for the invitations to be sent. I did have to verbally walk with her through the plans for that night, giving suggestions for how to arrange and display exhibits and demonstrations. So, while I freely admit I underestimated her yet again, I also maintain she still benefits from the guidance of the adults in charge of her development. My job's not over. (Whew!) And,showing a maturity far exceeding her years, she actually accepts it with a modicum of grace and only a few discreetly rolled eyeballs.
Meg had a blast studying Egypt. She’s even considering becoming an Egyptologist. It was hard, though, for her to decide where to concentrate, both in her written projects and her formal presentations. In the end, she made a display board with short descriptions of various Pharaohs throughout Egyptian history, noting each on a timeline. Her formal presentation was a dramatic rendering of a fictitious early Egyptian extolling the wisdom of her chieftain husband for leading their tribe of nomads into the beautiful Nile valley years earlier. She had planned to do another presentation from the perspective of King Tut’s wife, but did not get that polished enough to feel comfortable doing it. (Part of the difficulty lay in deciding which of the various theories to follow and how to develop it. Very interesting possibilities!)
About mid-morning the day of the event, I took Meg along on my almost-daily prayer walk. We spent some time praying for the day and discussing several details about her preparations. This and the 20-30 minute break I insisted she take about an hour before the guests were due to arrive, gave her time to relax and prepare her mind and attitude. Even though she was nervous, she maintained her composure throughout the day and evening. Even when her specially designed desert, a Pyramid Treasure Cake, seemed to be utterly ruined.
The guests, Meg's grandfather and a friend, some homeschooling friends, and one of our neighbors with her family, began arriving a little before 6 pm. After greeting and briefly visiting with the guests, Meg and I went into the kitchen to pull together the last minute dinner preparations. Meg had to stir-fry the meat and veggies (fried and served separately because she doesn’t like the veggies LOL), heat up the sauce for the Koshary (a middle eastern dish of layered pasta, rice and lentil mixture with a tomato based sauce), and broil the fish. Already out on the serving table was Cucumber Salad, sliced cantaloupe and honeydew melons, grapes, and the Pyramid Treasure Cake, which had been cut and arranged into a pyramid shape with candy ‘treasures’ hidden in the middle. This focal point of the serving table was dubbed “The Ruins of the Leaning Pyramid of Gaza”. That’s what you do with ‘mistakes’, ‘flops’ and ‘failures’. Use some creative flair and turn them into unique centerpieces.
When all the food was cooked and set out on the serving table, we called everyone to dinner. The thirteen guests were seated on benches around two tables, with Meg and me at the ends and the serving table between us. Meg presented each table with a riddle, which they had to solve before being served their food.
After the meal, Meg did a short dramatic presentation of an Egyptian nomad who settled in the Nile Valley with her chieftain husband in the early part of known Egyptian history. Throughout the meal she shared some of the interesting facts she’d learned as she studied Egypt. At the end of the meal, she orchestrated an “Egyptian Trivia” game.
As the guests were preparing to leave, Meg presented each woman with homemade perfume and small atomizers. She gave them instructions to continue to shake the mineral oil and aromatic flowers each day. At the end of three weeks, they could strain out the leaves and flowers, which could be used as potpourri for another couple of weeks. The perfume would be ready to use, either with the atomizer or by dabbing on the skin.
Meg did ALL of the work involved in planning and preparation for this night. I shared my knowledge and experience and we discussed a multitude of options and possibilities over the weeks. However, the only work I actually did was helping set up the tables and decorations and to pull together the last minute cooking so guests weren’t waiting too long. She commented several times during the day about being nervous and afraid she would mess up royally. I pointed out that even if she did (which I was certain wasn’t going to happen), the night would still be a success. It’s called discovery learning! Any ‘disasters’ (like the pyramid cake) would only allow for more learning. Even if the entire evening had been a total disaster, Meg learned valuable lessons about planning and preparing to host a dinner party for 12 guests. No trivial feat. As it was,everyone had a good time and left happy and well-fed.
Translation: successful dinner party.
I wonder what she will do next to amaze me?