Out of Africa, Apologies

Last weekend Sweet M had a project to do for social studies . . . all the children in her class were supposed to make three-dimensional models of things from various continents.

We were just back from traveling, and I had several work deadlines, so we decided to just use the David's Cookie's Cookie Play Dough that we had in the freezer from Fresh Direct to make a model of Africa. (Full disclosure: This blog does not receive any support for product endorsements.)

We weren't exactly following the assignment -- we ought to have been making a model of the Pyramids, or of Victoria Falls or Mount Kilamanjaro -- but I knew the cookie dough wouldn't hold the shapes for those sorts of things well enough once it was baked, and I didn't have time to run out an buy a supply of Model Magic or get several hundred yellow Legos to build the pyramids.

Making the cookie dough Africa wasn't the easiest thing for her . . . she really hated the smell of the cookie dough . . . and hasn't ever been wild about the texture of Playdoh, but we persevered, and the edible Africa was modeled and baked.

We packed it carefully for the trip to school, and it was apparently on display in the hallway, when the inevitable happened. Another kid at the school took a bite out of it . . . out of the Madagascar tile, to be exact. I ought to have expected this . . . the idea of making an edible Africa was flawed from the start. But the amazing thing was that Sweet M was pretty sanguine about it all.


The little boy who devoured part of the Indian Ocean and Madagascar wrote her a letter of apology.

One wishes the real Africa could have gotten as prompt and thoughtful a response from its European colonists.

Now I have only to get Sweet M to "except" his apology.