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Post by jill on May 16, 2008 21:33:38 GMT -5
Annette had a lesson at school where they ordered kits that were caterpillars and the kids took care of them and watched them change and turn into a butterfly. Today they had a ceremony and all set them free. Annette named hers sparkle fairy and was excited when it landed on her before flying off. Hours later she came into my bedroom and had tears streaming down her face and when i asked her what was wrong she ran in my arms and broke down even more the problem the butterfly. She is crying for her butterfly and is saying she wants it back to take care of and misses her. I swear she is going through grief here and I am having a hard time distracting her. Both her father and I explained to her butterflies are not pets and that they are meant to be free. She tells me her butterfly is in her heart is is worrying about her butterfly wants to know if she is okay. Now what? I will keep supporting her but this sensitive. She has had beta fish before and when they died no big deal and when I said that she replied "fish are boring".
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Post by charliegirl on May 16, 2008 22:10:53 GMT -5
Can you plant one of the flowers or bushes that attract butterflies? Maybe if she sees them flying around she will realize they need to be free to fly.
You could tell her you are planting it so Sparkle Fairy can come to live there if she needs to.
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Post by jj on May 16, 2008 22:54:12 GMT -5
Oh, Jill....I got tears in my eyes reading this. Just like you said, she is going through mourning, poor baby. I'm afraid this is one tough lesson she is already learning - that we lose things/animals/people we love. I don't know what more you can do besides doing what you are doing and just being there for her. Give her some extra big hugs for me.
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Post by jill on May 17, 2008 7:56:37 GMT -5
Can you plant one of the flowers or bushes that attract butterflies? Maybe if she sees them flying around she will realize they need to be free to fly. You could tell her you are planting it so Sparkle Fairy can come to live there if she needs to. * I love this idea planting some thing like that. The funny thing is she has Beta fish and she has lost a couple in the past and did not cry over them and when I said something about it to her father she answered "because fish are boring". We did end up laughing. This morning she did say she still misses her butterfly and was not as upbeat as she normally is. I guess we will have to take it one day at a time. |
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Post by dimples74 on May 17, 2008 9:17:09 GMT -5
 I have a friend whose daughter went through something similar. Noah's little friend Anabelle had a fish that died. She cried and cried and cried. They had to make a special box for it and have a funeral service for the fish. It has been about a year and she still gets upset over a silly goldfish. It drives Sarah nuts. I like the butterfly attracting flower idea.
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Post by jill on May 20, 2008 6:02:13 GMT -5
She is doing better and I am not asking her and letting it go. I will however discuss it with her if she brings it up. So charliegirl what plants or flowers attract butterflies? We love the idea but have no clue.
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Post by charliegirl on May 20, 2008 9:24:09 GMT -5
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Post by anon4now on May 20, 2008 11:55:44 GMT -5
Its too bad you weren't able to take a picture of it before they released them. Maybe she can draw pictures of the butterfly to help her remember how special she was and how nice it was to take care of a small creature etc. Unless you think that would trigger more emotions.
Anon
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Post by jill on May 21, 2008 6:01:50 GMT -5
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Post by jill on May 21, 2008 6:03:40 GMT -5
anon they did this at school so I was not around she has however printed pictures of butterflies off the intro net. Someone told me there was a butterfly museum where they fly freely and land on you in my area I will look into since I will be on vacation with her.
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I was about to conquer the world but then I got distracted by something shiny.
