It was open-evening at Bear’s school today. He enjoyed showing me the newly transformed painted lady butterflies in their net tube. He has been so excited about them over the past few weeks, right from anticipating the arrival of the eggs. Sadly, by the time they arrived the eggs had hatched into caterpillars. This didn’t dampen Bear’s enthusiasm and with his little hand in mine each day on the way home from school, he has shared his excitement and his newly acquired knowledge.

When he was little he liked wearing fairy wings at our local playgroups. I thought the pinks and lilacs were a bit sickly, so I found him some painted lady butterfly wings to wear. Three years on and he still loves flitting about in them, but we have had little success looking for real ones in the garden. I’m so grateful to his teacher for giving him this amazing experience. As much as he has enjoyed seeing the development from caterpillar through pupa to butterfly, he is looking forward even more to setting them free in the sensory garden, where they will take their chance with the other creatures.

I am doing something similar with Bear. I remember the first suspicious changes in my body and the test that confirmed he was growing inside me. Then he developed as a foetus, a baby, a toddler, and so it goes on. At some point, he will take his chance with the other creatures. All I can do is support him and equip him as best as I can. One day, he will stretch his own wings and taste the nectar for himself.