Flat Stanley does yoga

So far so good with my commitment to daily yoga in July. It mystifies me that I couldn't do this on my own, that it required pledging my intentions to the online yoga group. This further confirms an understanding of myself gained in the past decade or so: that I'm not necessarily a self-starter. That's not good or bad, but when I first came to grips with the fact it surprised me.


Here I am in 2003 practicing yoga with Flat Stanley, the little flat guy propped up against my leg. Parents of grammar- and middle school-age children probably recognize the name quickly. This particular version was created by my nephew, Micah, who at that time was in second grade. I opened the mail one day in May to find Flat Stanley and a letter written by his teacher describing the project. He was to stay with Mike and me for a determined amount of time and we were asked to treat him as a member of the family during that time, including him in our daily lives. Then we were asked to return him to Micah's teacher, along with a report of Flat Stanley's time with us, after which she would share all the students' Flat Stanleys adventures with the class. The whole thing so enchanted me that I decided to make a photo journal for Micah. It turned out so well that my sis said they'd keep it forever (individual projects were returned to students after class sharing and discussion).

I was sorry to learn online that The Official Flat Stanley Project is threatened now, it seems due partly to its enormous success. It's a convoluted problem and if you have the inclination you can learn more at the link.

Since I have these photos pulled from storage I might as well feature more of Flat Stanley's 2003 visit with Aunt Lydia and Uncle Mike. Check back over the three-day weekend to see what other activities we shared with the little flat guy.