I remember Naomi completing the same assignment when in
first or second grade. A month ago,
Charlotte's teacher sent home Flat Stanley for Charlotte to color and cut
out. It was accompanied by a journal for
her to record her activities/adventures she has accomplished with Flat
Stanley. "Who is Flat
Stanley?" Charlotte wanted to know.
The next day, her teacher came for her twice weekly lesson with Charlotte. At the end of the lesson, Mrs. Smith pulled
out a slim chapter book with Flat Stanley on the cover. She explained to Charlotte that the class had
been reading Flat Stanley in class. Now
they were done reading, she was going to leave the book with us. Charlotte was to record adventures she and
Flat Stanley accomplished in her journal.... going to the store with mom,
running errands, playing with friends.
After she left, Charlotte looked at me, frowning. "I don't get to go anywhere mom!"
It's true.
Charlotte doesn't go to church, she doesn't go to school, we do not
bring her to the store or any other public places. The weather is nasty, so she doesn't play
outside, and while we do try to have friends over, she doesn't have the amount
of social interaction that she used to.
Her big excursions are going to the oncology clinic for chemo or
visiting my mom in Bluffdale. My sibs
live close, but because all their kids have been constantly cycling colds all
winter, we haven't seen them.
It was time to be creative. I saw a droopy mylar balloon left over from
Charlotte's birthday. "What if we
tied Flat Stanley to your balloon and had him jump off the bannister down the
stairs?" Charlotte's eyes lit up
and she ran for the balloon. For the
next 20 minutes, she tossed Flat Stanley off the balcony so he could float down
the stairs. The next day, we built a
boat from a tupperware container with a piece of origami paper and a pencil for
a sail. We filled the kitchen sink with
water, added blue food coloring to the water, and sailed Stanley. Stanley capsized and had to dry out in the
oven. The next day, Charlotte rigged
string to tie Stanley to her Barbie jet ski and let him around the house by
dragging the string. We took Stanley to grandma's and counted her button
collection... after we hit 100, we decided we would sort them by color instead.
Then we hit a slump.
Stanley went to work with me to be laminated... I kept forgetting to
take care of it. Charlotte needed to
finish two more pages in her journal.
The bargain I made with Charlotte
was that we would have a flashlight disco, if she would write one page in her
journal. It took a lot of begging,
pleading, cajoling, but it finally was done.
It was 8:30 at night, and Charlotte was looking at me to keep my end of
the deal. Thank goodness for my
neighbors. They sent over Charly's good
pals in their pajamas with flashlights.
We turned on disco music, turned off the lights, and danced around with
our flash lights for 3 songs. After
Oreos and milk, the neighbor kids were kicked back home, and we went to bed.
Now Flat Stanley has been laminated, to commemorate how
being creative can make boring things fun.
He periodically disappears and reappears as we clean areas around the
house. We were supposed to ship him
somewhere and have that person have an adventure with Stanley and then send him
back with a letter that would be read in class.
There was much debate - I suggested Charlotte's new Uncle Dave to take
Stanley Geese Policing, or Uncle Aaron who is out at sea. Sean was suggesting Grandma Moore's 5th grade
class. Charlotte was not willing to let
Stanley go yet, so he didn't ever get sent.
If she changes her mind, somebody
may find Flat Stanley coming to visit in their mailbox. Hope they have as much fun with him as we
did.
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