The Caterpillar

We have a caterpillar... Xun brought it back from his fieldtrip to the Oh Chin Huat Farm during the March school holidays. Actually he brought back 2 caterpillars. He was supposed to talk to them and wait patiently for them to transform into pupas and then butterflies.

For one whole week, we checked on the fellows frequently... and one of them built a cocoon around itself and within a few days, broke out from the shelter... but it was NOT a butterfly!!???!!! It was a black beetle of some sorts... I have no idea what was it!!???!!! A couple of days later, we let it go at the grass patch downstairs... it has to move on with its life... of some sorts...

We have one more caterpillar left... and we waited for it to build a cocoon around itself and then metamorph into a butterfly... or a black beetle... or something... but it never does!!???!!! And we wonder why...

On 26 May 2009, we had a discussion... and my boys had the following hypotheses:
- Lei thought the caterpillar is still a caterpillar because it doesn't know how to build a cocoon...
- Xun thought it is afraid that it will become a black beetle just like the other caterpillar... so it chooses to remain a caterpillar...
So we might never find out if it's meant to be a butterfly...

The discussion hit a spot in my heart... i imagine every child is like a caterpillar... will they have the knowledge to build a cocoon around themselves in preparation for their metamorphosis? how can we, as parents, help them? will we, as parents, have the patience to wait for them to make the transformation in their own time? more importantly will they have the courage to transform? are we, as parents, prepared to love them and accept them regardless of whether they turn into a black beetle or a butterfly???

I'm still hopeful that the caterpillar will transform one day... in his own time...