Metamorphosis

On Labor Day we followed Atkinson family tradition and went caterpillar hunting.

Caterpillars are getting hard to find these days but dad went golfing the Friday before and found one while he was looking for his ball. We were having trouble finding any in our usual spot so we had to go back to the golf course and dad had to sneak in through a ditch to get the one he had seen. The things you do for your kids.

Kade loves all bugs. He tells you all kinds of creepy crawly things are, “so cute.” He loved having his own caterpillar. We cleaned his jar and gave him fresh milkweeds to eat every day. I explained the steps of metamorphosis to him and he asked me everyday if his caterpillar had turned into a “J” yet.

One morning we came into the kitchen and it had finally picked a spot on the top of the jar and had turned into a “J”. About 24 hours later it started to wiggle and it turned into a chrysalis. We were waiting and waiting for it to happen and we left the house for about 1/2 hour and of course that is when it happened.

Every time Kade saw his jar he would yell “My caterpillar turned into a chrysalis.” He was very excited about the whole process. The chrysalis stayed green for about 10 days and then it turned black. We kept checking on it and soon it turned transparent and we could see the orange wings. We were taking pictures with the orange chrysalis and Kade decided he wanted some French toast. I made it and and turned around to get the syrup and that quickly the butterfly was coming out. We got to see it come out and Kade just kept saying, “Where is my chrysalis.” After he got over the missing chrysalis he wanted to hold the butterfly I told him it was wet with crinkled wings and that it needed to dry.

Grandma’s visit came at the perfect time. By the time she got here the wings were dry and it was time to feed it. She made some sugar water and put it on a Q-tip. She got the butterfly out and let Kade watch it’s tongue unroll and drink up the sugar.

Kade soon discovered that the sugar water was delicious and he drank it all.

This whole process has taken a few weeks and although Kade loved his caterpillar but he really became attached to the butterfly. He always wanted to hold it and while Grandma was feeding it he was kissing it and petting it.

Today was the day we let the butterfly go. Kade finally got to hold it. He wouldn’t let it crawl on him though. He was a little wary of the wiggly legs. He was very gentle and was so happy to be holding his butterfly.

After the butterfly had enough he took off and we watched it fly off into the blue blue sky.

Kade was the saddest boy after he realized that the butterfly was not coming back. He sat down on the grass and cried and cried. He kept saying, “Mom I lost my butterfly, I lost it.” When his dad came home that night the first thing he said was “Dad I lost my butterfly” in a quiet sad little voice.

Now it’s been a while and Kade plays with his toy butterfly and says, “Look at his tongue mom, he needs sugar.” Sometimes he will look at me and say in that sad little voice, “Mom my butterfly flew away into the blue blue sky.” Today he was walking around saying Metamorphosis. I think it was an experience he will remember forever.