The Desperately Hungry Caterpillar

The other morning I was sitting with my daughter engaged in the facade of toilet training and she asked me to read "The Very Hungry Caterpillar," a well-known, modern classic by Eric Carle. I like the format of the book and the broad strokes in the paintings that allow such a range of color in each picture. I was anxiously looking forward to the very last painting in the book, the one where the caterpillar had turned into a beautiful butterfly of a million colors.

Well, a few pages before this transformation the caterpillar eats through a green leaf to settle his stomach before chrysalising. We then turn the page to where Carle depicted a large brown cocoon. To me, it's obvious what it is. I even told my daughter what it was about a hundred times, but that morning, she asked me something that I didn't expect, "Why is the caterpillar eating that poop?" as she pointed to the image on the right side, and laughed.



I seriously could not stop laughing. I had never thought of it as a poop before and I usually think of everything as poop or some other disgusting object. I was surprised at her odd little sense of humor. I was strangely proud of her.

It will never top hearing my son telling his uncle to "change his tampon," but it definitely is in the top ten.

Love to YOU.