The sleeping caterpillar

Ellee found a cute fuzzy caterpillar in late Fall under the stairs of our apartment building. She said hi to it and went about her day. The next day she saw it again and said it must be sleeping, since it had not moved. Now, five or so months later, she says “HI” to the sleepy caterpillar almost every time we leave or return home. I guess with the cold weather it is temporarily preserved?

I am all in favor of teaching children about life and death or the circle of life with small creatures in preparation for any future (hopefully VERY far in the future) event with someone she loves. However, for some reason I cannot bring myself to discuss the truth about the ‘sleeping caterpillar’. Maybe it is because we are always in a rush to leave or it is cold outside and we need to get in quick. Most of the time I forget about it, but she never does.

Now I need to decide if the ‘sleepy caterpillar’ should disappear or if we need to have a burial. I don’t want to make a huge deal out of it but I don’t want to lose the teaching moment either.