beauty in the eye of the beholder

I learned a lesson or two about unconditional love this week!! My great caterpillar experiment came to a head on Wednesday. For weeks we have watched and adored these little critters. I found the eggs on milkweed and have "babied" them since they were literally this ~ big!! This included providing new milkweed as the old became too chewed up, capturing them from near death experiences (like me dropping them in the water) and cleaning their jars (you wouldn't think caterpillars could poop much, but guess again!) The little fellas became part of the family and we would watch in wonder as they devoured their milkweed (did you know they eat in a very efficient, structured manner?)
Benjamin became especially enthralled. He even had to go show them off at preschool. He was proud of his new friends. So as they began to make their cocoons we waited in anticipation for them to come out. We thought their sewing themselves into the leaves was a little odd, but still couldn't wait for our butterflies to arrive. You can imagine my dismay (and disgust!) when I looked up from doing the dishes to see this in one of our jars:
Not just a moth, but one of the ugliest, freaky looking moths I've ever seen. I wasn't sure if I should even tell Benjamin. After my initial shock and rushing all of the jars outside (who wants THAT flying around their home!) I showed Benjamin our little babies. He had a confused look on his face, examined them closely, and exclaimed, "I gotta go show Ms. Gail!" (his preschool teacher.) Benjamin reminded me that even though they are weird, they are our little freak-of- natures. Suddenly I was excited again and wondering what kind of moths they are and what good they provide to society. I even made sure they were all accounted for before flying away. Thanks for reminding me, Benjamin, that there is beauty all around...even in bugs!