Reason # 3,394

The Great Butterfly Rescue...

Dropping the kids off at camp and daycare this morning, I had decided to drop JJ off first.  That is out of the way, but I felt like I needed to spend a few extra minutes with Bean this morning.

We pull into a parking spot, the kiddos both climb out of Beans side of the car. She looks down and exclaims "Ooooh! A Butterfly!  It's so beautiful!"

I look down and see a beautiful butterfly that is missing half of a wing and is clearly not going to fly away to a happy ending... 

I shuffle the kids inside because I need a few minutes to figure out how to explain a dying butterfly to a 9 year old...

We drop JJ off in his classroom... Hugs... Kisses... And I realize what I must do...

I have to lie...

We get back to the car and the butterfly is still laying in the same spot, between two parking spots.  At this point, Bean seems to realize that something is not right and that the butterfly is injured.

Bean: "Mom, we need to take her home and help her."

Me: "Sweetie, we need to put her in a safe place and let the butterflies take care of her."

Bean: "How will they know what to do?"

Me: "They will know... Some butterflies are like doctors and they help take care of butterflies that don't feel well... We need to move her out of the parking lot and on to the grass"

Bean: "If we move her, how will the butterflies know where to find her?"

Me: "They will know.  Butterflies know how to communicate with each other and they know where each other are... It's like magic..."

Bean: "OK"

She gingerly placed the butterfly in her hand and laid her gently in the grass.  There was no longer a risk of being squished by a car or foot traffic...

I dropped Bean off at Camp and I had to find a counselor to explain the situation to.  Her ASL interpreter comes in a little later, and I knew that anyone trying to decipher the events would surely lead to frustration and confusion.

Flash forward:  At the end of the day, I typically pick up Bean first and then we get JJ.  I knew that if I picked Bean up first, she would go looking for the butterfly.  I decided to pick up JJ first...

I pulled into a spot and walked over to where we had been parked this morning.  Please let the butterfly be gone.  I don't need to know by what means, I just want to not see that butterfly. Unfortunately, I saw the butterfly... Damnit...

The first thing that Bean asked when I picked her up was "How is the butterfly?"

Me: "She was gone, baby.  I told you that the other butterflies would take care of her.  You did such an amazing thing- making sure that she was in a safe place..."

Bean: "I'm so glad that she is OK..."

I'm a horrible person for lying, but she is so proud of herself and so pleased that the butterfly is safe...

Reason # 3,394