Flat Stanley Helps

Our oldest son David is in the second grade, and he loves the Flat Stanley books.  This week he has his own Flat Stanley, and he is to take photos of Flat Stanley with him throughout the week and journal about what Flat Stanley does with our family.  Well we put him to work counting and rolling some Coins for Katie!

I have a big glass jar in my office with Katie's picture on it.  It's between the two chairs that everyone in town sits in when they come to our office to chat, go to lunch, etc.  (We have a very social office!)  EVERYONE sees the jar, asks about Katie, and puts change in.  And I mean everyone - clients, the children of clients, attorneys, our process server, the guy trying to sell us a new credit card processing service. . . everyone.  The jar was a little more than half full last night, so I brought it home to count.

David, Flat Stanley, and I all got busy counting our coins and rolling them.  I know something like Coinstar would be faster and easier, but the counting and rolling is part of the process for us.  I believe it helps the boys to see how change - literally something people drop on the ground and don't pick up - adds up to so much money.  I really want them to have an understanding of what we're doing with Coins for Katie.  They understand that Katie's adoption is expensive.  (Hello - David told his counselor at summer camp, "Thanks for the fun.  We're getting a new sister and it's really expensive.  Once we're done paying for her adoption I probably can't come back next summer."  Um, he reached that conclusion on his own, and he will be back at camp!)  But I want them to be part of the counting, rolling, and depositing at the bank to get a real understanding of this process.  So we counted.  And we rolled.  And we talked about coins and who was on them.  And we talked about all of the people who have filled the jar.  And we talked about all of the things we need to do with the money.  David talks a lot. . . We counted $100.57 from the jar in my office!  We added that to the big jar at our house and have $275 we'll be depositing today at the bank!  Anyone who thinks that Coins for Katie isn't going to be great for us is wrong - these coins are adding up QUICK!