It's been tough trying to figure out good ways to entertain my 4-year-old during these times at home. In my head, I'm a crafty person. In my heart, I am not. So even though I had Googled plenty of great activities, not too many came to fruition.
In my friend group, I'm one of the very few with a child. My friends who do have kids live in other states, meaning that my daughter Charlotte has a ton of honorary aunts. One in particular happened to find a butterfly kit and sent it to her on her birthday.
Personally, I thought this was a win. I'm a big fan of growing things, which explains my houseplant addiction. Being able to see caterpillars turn into butterflies in my own home was quite thrilling. And Charlotte likes butterflies — so it was a win all around.
The kit was from the company Insect Lore.
Imagine being known as the company who best delivers live critters to your door. Insect Lore has been around since 1969, when a guy named Carlos White thought that families could benefit from seeing the metamorphosis in person.
I know this history quite well, since I'm going to be honest. When I first received my caterpillars, I thought at least three of the five were dead. So off to the website I went to look up "dead caterpillars?" in its FAQs. Turns out, some caterpillars are just very, very slow. Other caterpillars may take a few days to really warm up.
Every day, Charlotte and I took a peek at them. She was amped for the "butterfly" part of it, but she understood that it was a process.
After hanging out with one of my friends, I saw a similar butterfly habitat at her house and suddenly felt even more connected to the process. Her caterpillars were a few days ahead of mine, so I used her as a resource of "what to expect." And quite often, I asked her, "Are yours still alive?" I also emailed the company my fears, and it didn't respond. But that's not the company's fault. The caterpillars were definitely alive, and the company has been mailing out bugs for 50 years, while I was simply a nervous mom who didn't want her daughter to be too traumatized by dead caterpillars — likely one of many who emailed that day. I just needed to have more faith in the process.
The caterpillars grew in size at an almost scary pace. One day they were tiny, the next they were monsters who were ready to transform into something else. Insect Lore provides all the food with the caterpillars, so there's nothing for you to really do but sit, wait, and investigate.
Eventually, the caterpillars went into formation.
And it was slightly creepy. "Do you think that they know what they're doing and excited to emerge into butterflies?" I asked my husband. He reminded me that they're insects, and their bodies likely just start doing certain things to naturally prepare for the change. It's an eerie concept when you think about it. Having no control over something like that is my worst fear, thus I appreciate the plight of the caterpillars even more.
One night, we realized that all but one caterpillar made it to the top. So, yes — one did die, but those odds seemed natural. The company guarantees at least three out of five will turn into butterflies. But still, RIP.
The cocoons took little time to form.
If you look closely in this particular picture, you can see the progress. Notice the caterpillar who's having some issues getting zipped up? That caterpillar, I do believe (although I can't be sure), later became a key player in the progress.
Butterflies are usually in their cocoons for a week or two before emerging. This was the first stage in which I could actually open up the jar of cocoons, which was a terrifying process. As an anxious person, I had fears of dropping one — or angering them in the process — or dropping them and angering them all at once. But they were pretty secure, as nature is truly fascinating.
Pretty soon, they were all ready for their final stage.
Three of the butterflies hatched on the same day. They still needed some time to figure out their wings and their new life phase, so we kept them in the container for a couple days to monitor them. I put some fresh fruit, like orange slices, in the container for them to snack on. I thought they'd fly away the second I opened their cylindrical home, but that wasn't the case.
Remember that scene in Bambi, after Bambi tries to walk the first time with wobbly legs? That's similar to these butterflies. They tried to fly, but they weren't the most graceful. They needed time for their wings to dry out first. Also, my cat suddenly took an interest in the process. But both she and Charlotte were quite respectful toward the insects. That was another lesson we learned in the process — how to treat living things with the respect they deserve. I was actually quite thrilled with how gentle both of them were, especially the cat. (Cat owners know that it's pretty hard to tell a cat what to do.)
Charlotte and I eventually let go of our first three.
One very special morning, we thought it'd be a good day to set our butterflies free — including the butterfly who had emerged around a day after its mates. Three of them had no trouble figuring out what to do, and they flew away. According to Charlotte, they were flying up to live on the roof of our house. It's a nice thought to know that they're still staying local, despite likely not being true.
In a way, it was a little difficult. Having seen every life stage these former caterpillars went through was like sending my insect children off to college.
But then there was that last butterfly.
This butterfly didn't want to leave. Looking back, I'm pretty sure it was the one who cocooned last and seemingly had a bit of difficulty. Since she hung around for another few days, I asked Charlotte to give her a name. And she did — Princess Umbrella.
We tried to let Princess Umbrella out multiple times, but it seemed as if she wasn't ready to move on. For a brief second I thought, "Well, now we have a pet butterfly." That said, keeping them as pets really does defeat the purpose of the whole exercise. Princess Umbrella was a painted lady butterfly, known as one of the most widespread butterfly species throughout the whole planet. Letting them free to explore the world is the true reason as to why this project is so important.
Eventually, Princess Umbrella found her wings.
But only after a thorough photo shoot with the two of us first. Having one butterfly stick around a little longer made us feel more of a personal connection, and Princess Umbrella didn't mind being handled.
Watching her fly away was sad, but it made me realize that I wanted to continue bringing caterpillars into my home. They're fun for plenty of reasons. For one, you get to see one of nature's most puzzling miracles — what happens in that cocoon, exactly? Secondly, it was a great way to bond with my daughter. Every morning, we went to check on the butterflies and see their progress.
But it was also a good exercise in letting go. Emotionally, we'll all need to let go of something or someone in our lives, and the butterflies were a good first step. We've already ordered a second cup of caterpillars for round two. While it'll be hard to see if anyone has the courage to step into Princess Umbrella's position as Butterfly MVP, there's only one way to find out.
