Yes, but it takes more than just a Flat Daddy. It takes a Flat Village to raise a child…
This reminds me of an old episode of Fresh Prince where Jazzy Jeff moved in with the Bankses. He arrived with a cardboard standup of Bill Cosby, and Will asked, “What happened to your Whitney Houston?”
“She fell apart in the shower.”
Uh, Wow. My sympathetic instinct is to say, Whatever gets you through missing your loved one in these circumstances.
But then the Photographer instinct kicks in and says how rich it would be to follow the Flat Family through the day to day. So extremely odd. Taking Flat Dad to the gynocologist is just pushing it to weird extreme. Hope some thoughtful documentary photog/filmaker is documenting this, because it is truly worth detailing for temporal wonder,
Okay, that’s it- I want a Flat Brother the next time he’s in Iraq! 
I had a doll in the late 60s called Flatsy–think a small doll, smooshed by a steamroller. I loved her. (smaller than Barbie)
how odd.
I heard this story on NPR as I was driving home today, and I think it’s a great idea! They talked about how sometimes, when the kids were having a rough day, mom would hear them talking to Flat Daddy, just venting a little, like they would if he were there…and that sometimes the moms find themselves talking to the cutout, too. Whatever helps you get through the tough times, and lends a little humor to the situation. They talked about taking Flat Daddy along to family events and then sending Real Daddy pictures, so that he would know that they were thinking of him even when they were having fun. And they mentioned that some of the people who initially said, “this is silly and not for me” later contacted them after seeing how comforting it was for other families. All in all, just a way for families to keep that connection that is so important.
When my nephew was a few months old, his daddy got deployed to Korea for 13 months. My sister kept pictures of her husband everywhere…in plastic keychains on the car seat, in frames, in booklets…and everyday that baby boy “talked” to Daddy. When he came home to an almost two-year-old boy, that child knew his daddy at the airport and ran into his arms, as if he’d never been gone. If Flat Daddy had been around back then, my sister would have had three! Whatever works.
And yes, one of my favorite books as a child was “Flat Stanley”.
So was this inspired by Flat Stanley?
GT
I dunno, this is distinctly in the Uncanny Valley for me.
I can’t help thinking, what would happen if one of these soldiers should happen to be killed, gods forbid. I think it would be distinctly horrible to have a life-size cardboard cutout hanging around the house.
It seems a little strange to me. But if the family likes it, there’s no harm. Although no less strange.
Well, you have a choice. An open envelope funeral or a licked one. Kindly cremate in a well-ventilated area. If burial is preferred, please crumple.
When my sister moved from an apartment to a boat, and had to send the cats to live elsewhere, I gave her a Flat Cat.
But that was more in the way of being a joke. As opposed to the OP, which just seems bizarre.