Invasion of the Flat Dudes

My house runneth over with these guys. Earlier this year, my older son read the story of the famous flat traveler and created one to send off into the great, wide world. However, not being one to let things go quite so easily, he decided to create a flat companion at home. He liked it so much, he created another. And another. Like hobbies tend to do here in the Circus, it soon spiraled into overkill. At the peak of Flat-o-mania, we had well over 25 flat friends lurking about: napping under couches, building with Lego's, having a snack in the pantry. Anyone who deserved an apology received a flat peace offering - his brother has an entire flat football team. Visitors to the Circus often leave with a flat party favor. After a while, our flat wardrobes escalated from simple solids to T-shirts emblazoned with our favorite movie robot (oh, yes - some things never change) or the backwards "F" of our favorite monster burrito shop. The madness has subsided a bit, but occasionally the urge to wax flat re-emerges: like magic, a new friend will appear for breakfast, or a homework buddy will stand vigil over the math worksheet, and we welcome him into the fold.