Gracie has been asking me that for over a year, and I always say, "soon". And I mean it, but it's one of those things that slips my mind. She asked again a few weeks ago, after she saw another commercial on Sprout. You've probably seen them too; the kit comes with a "pavilion" and caterpillar eggs, and costs $24.95.
I made a mental note to order one soon... and promptly forgot.
A few night later we were eating dinner on the deck. Gracie noticed a big black caterpillar climbing up the side of the house.
"Can I get a jar?!"
(there is always something in a jar in our house)
"Okay, but you can only keep it for a day or it might die". Gracie caught the caterpillar, which looked rather menacing with its spiky black back, and added some leaves for his jar-dwelling comfort.
"What if he builds a cocoon and turns into a butterfly?!"
I was really close to saying, "aww sweetie that would be nice, but it won't happen", but I bit my tongue. I didn't want to sound discouraging, so I just said, "maybe..."
We put the jar on the kitchen counter. I forgot about it until later the next afternoon when I was cleaning the kitchen. "Oh boy," I thought, "I wonder if it died?" I picked up the jar, but I didn't see the caterpillar. I held the jar up...and saw a cocoon!
I couldn't believe it! How cool is that? I called Gracie, and she said, "I knew it would make a cocoon!"
But, we still didn't know what it would change into. We tried to find pictures of black caterpillars to compare it to, but with no luck. We also didn't know how long the metamorphosis would take. We just had to wait. Gracie started a journal so she could track what happened. Her butterfly field guide said some butterflies take from 7-10 days, other species take 10-20. And what if it was a moth? We checked the jar everyday, and finally, on day 8, there was a big, black, beautiful butterfly sitting in the jar.
We got out the field guide and finally determined it was called a "Mourning Cloak". It said they eat fruit, so we gave it some apple slices and it climbed all over them! (did you know butterflies have taste buds on their feet? I didn't either, but somehow Gracie did!)
We kept it in the jar another day or two to observe it, then it started fluttering a lot so we thought it was time to let it go.
It flew away so fast!
Later that night Jeremiah called me into the kitchen. "Look out the window," he said. The butterfly was back, sitting on our deck! It flew away before I could call the kids.
Watching the caterpillar change was a really cool experience; it was so much more fun because Gracie caught it and we didn't know when or what it would change into. Later Gracie remarked that she couldn't believe such an ugly caterpillar could change into something so beautiful- which was a really great time to talk about how God cleansed us from our sin and turned us into something new.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." 2 Corinthians 5:17
That is so wonderful! My kids have been begging for a butterfly kit too...we will have to be on the lookout for more caterpillers...most of the bugs they catch now a days they have been feeding to the chickens. LOL. So sweet, I loved this post. Isn't it amazing how God gives us gifts like this?
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