Dead Butterfly

Today I found a lifeless butterfly outside work. Carefully, I brought it home to Ellie. I wanted to teach her about butterflies, and life and death, etc.

She knew I had a surprise for her, and that it was something delicate and breakable. And so on the way home she was playing the guessing game. After toys, candy, and food were all nixed as her possible surprise, I reminded her that it was something breakable and delicate. She thought for a minute.

"Is it a glass cloud?"

When we got home, there was a live butterfly circling some flowers outside our house, and Ellie ran in circles following it for a minute. I asked her if she'd like to catch one, and she said yes, but that was impossible, since they're too fast.

When we got inside I presented her with the butterfly. I put it in her hands. Her first question:

"Is it dead Mommy?"

"Yes, it is dead."

"Well, who deaded it?"

Then a few minutes later, "How can we make it fly?"

I was planning on taking photos of the butterfly, until, within seconds of meeting, Ellie (unintentionally) snapped off one of its brittle antenna. A few seconds later, the other one was gone, and then she made it zoom through the air, toy airplane style and a little chunk of wing came off.

So the photos didn't happen. But to me, the joy and surprise on her face from that one dead butterfly were worth all the photos in the world.